Today, my campaign released a video that boldly and clearly re-frames the argument for healthcare for everybody. Please watch and share!
The 3-minute video, “How can I help you?” includes a news clip of the town hall moment when I challenged the incumbent I am running against, Bill Huizenga, to a debate over healthcare that brought the standing-room audience to its feet. The video also features a father talking about his wheelchair-bound young daughter’s illness and his fear that she could lose healthcare because of Congress’ attacks on patients with preexisting conditions and other protections. (See the full script of “How can I help you?” below.)
The video can also be found on our social media pages:
We wanted to present the choices in the healthcare debate with as much clarity as we could, and what it boils down to is this: We can either stand up for the right of a child to get healthcare and not be denied treatment because of a preexisting condition, or we can accept the broken status quo of drug companies and the insurance industry continuing to raise costs and buy off politicians who lack the courage to do the right thing. That’s the argument we’re making and that’s the argument we believe will win on Nov. 6.
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My opponent Bill Huizenga voted for the American Health Care Act, which threatens to take away healthcare from more than 23 million Americans, make healthcare unaffordable for patients with preexisting conditions, raise the price of prescription drugs and impose a healthcare age tax for seniors. Huizenga also voted 65 times to eliminate or significantly weaken the Affordable Care Act, which expanded healthcare to nearly 700,000 people in Michigan and prevents insurance companies from denying healthcare from patients with preexisting conditions. (Source: www.govtrack.org)
SCRIPT: “How can I help you?”
ROB DAVIDSON: I’m Rob Davidson. As an ER doctor, it’s my job to listen. I’ve listened as patients come in and tell me they can’t afford an inhaler or an EpiPen, or they’re bargaining with me on not getting a test that I think they need that could diagnose a potentially life-threatening condition. When you hear these stories over and over, you realize the system is completely broken.
RIED MEYER (with daughter Sonder): I’m Ried, and this is Sonder. She and I have some challenges that a lot of other kiddos don’t. It’s meant a lot of time in the hospital. And it’s meant a lot of ambulance rides. And it means a lot of medical services provided by Medicaid. Right now I straight up don’t feel represented. The things that Huizenga cares about threaten the well-being of my family.
NEWS HEADLINES: “Republican healthcare proposal would cover fewer low-income families” (NPR, Feb. 16, 2017); “Rep. Huizenga: We need ‘skin in the game’ when it comes to healthcare” (WZZM 13, Feb. 26, 2017); “House GOP plan would cut Medicare, Medicaid to balance budget” (Washington Post, June 19, 2018).
ROB DAVIDSON: So I heard that my congressman was having a town hall and I was concerned about healthcare. I went simply to talk to him as a physician. Congressman Huizenga called on me, and we ended up having a debate about healthcare.
WOOD TV8 news clip (March 6, 2017): Rob Davidson asks Huizenga, “Do you believe healthcare is a right?” Audience cheers and claps, and several people chime in “Yes or no!” Huizenga respond: “What I told the doctor is that I don’t believe it is a constitutional right.” Davidson says: “To me, in an advanced society that should not be the bar that we set.” The audience cheers and stands.
ROB DAVIDSON: Someone yelled out, “The doctor, 2018.” And people afterward came up and said, “You should run against him.” And as a person who listens, I started listening to those voices and started thinking about running for Congress.
ROB DAVIDSON (addressing voters): “I counted it up the other day, and I probably knocked on 50,000 patient doors and go in and say, ‘My name is Dr. Davidson, how can I help you?’ But what I found over the years, and it’s gotten worse as of late, I find that the policies that are guiding healthcare in this country have been an impediment to me ability to my ability to help them and to their ability to help themselves.”
RIED MEYER: Having met Rob Davidson, the thought of having him as a representative makes me feel so much more secure, knowing that he’s there advocating for us. That really gives me so much hope.
SHALEE KINNEY (Certified Nursing Assistant): He’s an amazing person, amazing human being, awesome doctor. And he really is very passionate about the needs of the people. He listens. He really does.
ROB DAVIDSON: I’m a doctor. I’m also a dad. My wife and I chose to raise our family here. I was born and raised in Michigan, and in Michigan, we don’t turn our backs on our neighbors when they need help. Bill Huizenga has stopped listening to us. He’s listening to donors. He’s listening to big drug companies and insurance companies who benefit off the current healthcare system. Every time he votes, he has them in his mind and not the people who live in this district. To change Congress, we must change who we send there. By rejecting corporate money, I will be free to fight for a system that puts people over profit. A system that doesn’t ask how much does that cost, but instead asks, “How can I help you?”