Russ Fulcher's healthcare plan is school vouchers for your medical bills. Here is how we fight back. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌[link removed] [[link removed]]

Debate Stage Challenge: Healthcare Vision for Idaho [[link removed]]

Friend,

When the Idaho Capital Sun sat down with Russ Fulcher to ask how he plans to address the soaring cost of healthcare, his answer was deeply concerning.

Russ is co-authoring a bill with Alabama Representative Gary Palmer to create a "voluntary parallel path" for the health insurance market. Here is how he described his plan:

"If you chose, you could sign up for a market-based deal... And the brief summary is, you get the benefit paid directly to you, and then you go figure out what channels you want to invest that healthcare in …you pick the provider, you pick the healthcare service, and you manage it yourself."Let’s translate what "manage it yourself" actually means for working families in Idaho:

It is school vouchers, but for your healthcare.

Just like the school voucher push we have been fighting in Idaho, Russ’s plan relies on a clear bait-and-switch. Instead of fixing a broken system, the government hands you a cash benefit coupon and tells you to shop on the private market.

We all know how vouchers work in practice. That cash coupon will not cover the actual cost of a private hospital bill any more than a school voucher covers private tuition. When you or your child gets sick, you are left to pay the massive difference out-of-pocket.

While lying in a hospital bed or sitting in an ER, you are expected to take your voucher, navigate a complex billing system, and shop for emergency surgery like you are browsing for a used car.

This is not healthcare choice. It is a plan that leaves you facing medical bankruptcy on your own. By stripping away collective bargaining power and consumer protections, Fulcher's model places all financial and administrative risk squarely on vulnerable patients.

We deserve a system built on security.

We must completely reimagine health coverage so that Idahoans are not paying federal taxes while still shelling out thousands of dollars a month in premiums. My plan supports a single-payer baseline of coverage for everyone, while allowing the private market to offer supplemental options .

Switching to a single-payer baseline is simply cheaper for both taxpayers and private consumers. It stops the current cycle where insurance companies deny care, delay necessary treatments, and jack up prices, all while using our tax dollars to lobby Congress to keep the status quo alive.

By securing a single-payer baseline, we will:

* Cut costs for families and taxpayers by eliminating corporate waste, price-gouging, and double-taxation on premiums.

* Bring real transparency and oversight back into the market to put an end to predatory billing and claim denials.

* Keep supplemental choices alive by letting the private market operate alongside a secure baseline.

Russ has spent over a decade calling healthcare reform a disaster, yet he recently admitted to reporters that Republicans have no replacement plan with enough support. His only idea left is telling you to fight insurance giants on your own.

The people of Idaho’s 1st District deserve to see these two competing visions debated side by side. We welcome the Congressman to discuss this with us on stage during our next planned debate , and we have officially extended a bipartisan press invitation [[link removed]] to both Russ Fulcher and independent candidate Sarah Zabel.

It is time to stop running from debates, Russ. Let's talk about healthcare face-to-face.

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In solidarity,

Kaylee Peterson

Kaylee Peterson Signature [[link removed]]

Democratic Candidate for Idaho's 1st Congressional District

Kaylee Peterson for Congress
PO Box 302
Eagle, ID 83616
United States

Paid for by the Kaylee for Congress Committee

Tailored for the working families of Idaho.

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