Too many Michigan families are one medical bill away from financial ruin. I hear it everywhere I go in Oakland County: seniors rationing prescriptions and parents delaying care because the deductible hasn’t been met. Many small business owners are watching their premiums climb year after year affecting sustainability and their ability to keep the staff they have, if they have any at all. This is not the sign of a healthcare industry offering programs to give the public access to quality healthcare. Although, what else can we expect from a system that too often puts profit before people?
As the daughter of immigrants, I grew up understanding how fragile security can be. My parents came to this country believing that hard work would lead to stability. That if you followed the rules, you could build a good life. But today, even families who do everything right can lose everything because someone gets sick. No one should face bankruptcy because they need to see a doctor.
I’m running for Congress in Michigan’s 11th District because I believe we must do better.
Health care affordability isn’t just a personal issue. It’s a Michigan issue. A new report from the Citizens Research Council confirms what too many families already know: Michiganders are less healthy than much of the country, and the reasons go far beyond individual choices. We have higher rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. We die younger. We experience more days of poor physical and mental health each month than the national average.
These outcomes are not inevitable and are the product of poor policy choices.
The report makes clear that health is shaped by more than insurance cards and doctor visits. Transportation, education, income, housing stability, and social connection all play powerful roles in determining whether people thrive or struggle. When unemployment, low wages, unsafe neighborhoods, and unreliable transportation are the norm, health suffers. When mental health care and addiction treatment are inaccessible or unaffordable, families suffer. And when people fall behind financially, the stress alone can make them sick.
Perhaps most striking is the role income plays. According to the research, personal income is the single strongest predictor of health outcomes. Lower pay increases the risk of food insecurity and lack of regular medical care. When income disparities intersect with race, the consequences are devastating. In Michigan, Black infants die at nearly three times the rate of white infants, a moral failure that should outrage every one of us.
This is why simply tinkering around the edges of health insurance is not enough. I support Medicare for All, a health care system that truly puts people first. One that allows access to doctors, prescriptions, mental health services, and addiction treatment without fear of surprise bills or financial collapse. We need to protect patients and ensure continuity of care so people can keep their doctors and get help when they need it. For these reasons and so many more I will always support a program that truly provides access to medical care for all.
Mental health deserves special attention. Too many Michiganders struggle in silence because care is unavailable or stigmatized. Timely, affordable mental health services should be a basic expectation, not a luxury. The same is true for addiction and recovery services. Nearly every family knows someone affected by substance use disorder. Compassionate, evidence-based treatment saves lives, denying it only makes the crisis worse.
There is good news to build on. Michigan has expanded insurance coverage and maintains a relatively reasonable cost of living. But coverage alone doesn’t guarantee care, and insurance doesn’t mean affordability. If premiums, copays, and deductibles keep rising faster than wages, families will continue to fall through the cracks.
Being a lawyer, I know that systems don’t change on their own. They change when people demand accountability and leaders are willing to take on entrenched interests. I am running because I am willing to fight: for lower costs, fairer rules, and a health care system that treats health as a public good, and doesn’t see Americans as a commodity used to fatten the pockets of those that limit our ability to receive proper medical care.
A healthy Michigan isn’t just about living longer. It’s about living better with dignity and security. Our families deserve nothing less, and I am ready to get to work to make it happen.
Aisha Farooqi is running for Congress in Michigan’s 11th District in Oakland County.
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