Shutdown clarifies the politics of healthcare, food

It’s been long enough. Let’s get the government open. It’s not that I mind the intrigue. It’s kinda cool historically, but that’s about the end of things in a shutdown that are cool.
It bothers me tremendously that people who need food assistance through the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are now staring at not having that in their back pocket to help keep their families fed.
Honestly, I don’t think it will last much longer, but we are getting close to the longest shutdown in history. My daughter is flying home for the holidays and it’s not lost on me that traffic controllers could still be unpaid and probably distracted by that. I would be.
I went out to the Fort Madison food pantry and saw volunteers working to make sure those shelves are stocked in preparation for additional customers. The Governor is working with the Iowa Food Bank, as she did during the pandemic, to make sure they have the resources they need to withstand the shutdown – a solid Iowa move. She’s also making as much political hay out of it as she can – which is getting to be another solid Iowa move.
Fareway just announced a dollar for dollar match in all monetary contributions made at stores in Iowa, to help prop up local food pantries. Customers can also buy pre-packaged food pantry bags.
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks calls it the ‘Shumer Shutdown”.
Iowa Sen. Jeff Reichman said he felt sorry for constituents’ inconvenience of ‘DC Democrats desire to spend an additional $1.5 trillion on NPR and asylum seekers”, a move he called reckless spending.
There's plenty to point fingers at on both sides, but there's no doubt this has become a tragedy of politics. 
Of course it’s going to be political, it’s politics. It’s also very personal.
I will say that healthcare premiums are a huge sticking point and one that needs to be managed carefully. The credits are set to expire in 60 days and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, 2.2 million Americans could lose healthcare because it will just cost too much. They will dangerously play the odds of hoping they don’t get sick vs. keeping more money in their bank accounts.
Politicians are playing games with the reaction to that and how it will play at the polls in the 2026 general election. This is where politics fall off the rails because they are willing to dismiss, in the electoral math, that these are peoples' lives. Literally – their health is their life.
Any reliable report on the status of the shutdown points to the strategies being played out in Washington. There seems to be some serious heartburn about SNAP, but not nearly as much emotion about keeping Americans insured. Any compromise will result in increased premiums and will further polarize the country’s bastions of political centers.
I’m not even sure it makes sense to have that many people fall out of the system economically, but I’m not that smart, so….
I can tell you personally, it will take a toll. I have a good insurance program unaffected by the shutdown - I think.
Obamacare wasn’t my favorite move and I typically raise a hand for social programming that helps people at base levels. Yes, people abuse social programming and that’s unavoidable, but many, many don’t abuse it and are trying to build lives of independence. My mother used food assistance to raise me and my brothers. When she found strong employment she asked to be removed and believe it or not, it was difficult to be removed. But she used it to lift her family and then stepped away from it.
My daughter - and I have to be careful here so she doesn’t get mad and open a wound over my left eye when she’s back for the holidays - works two jobs. Both jobs provide good income but not insurance. We all live lives of choice and we get to celebrate and suffer those choices, but she’s working hard to get her degree because, for some reason, the majority of metro employers use a Bachelor’s degree to filter out otherwise qualified candidates. That’s something that also needs a serious look as a possible way to get people back to work in niche environments.
In the meantime she relies on those premium credits because she’s not over four times the federal poverty level and it’s freakin’ expensive in Brooklyn. Currently she pays $200 a month, but she got a letter last week that her premium credits are being eliminated and she will automatically be enrolled in the same program at $753 a month.
She’s over 30 and she’s had to use her health insurance on some health issues. That’s all I’ll say because I’m not sure she couldn’t whip me. She’s a New Yorker after all.
She cannot afford that and there is no way any healthcare provider would think that increase was sustainable. So the 20-30 years olds, the healthy ones that typically don’t use their health insurance and help fill the insurance company’s payout funds, are going to drop out and play the odds. Maybe even 40-year-olds and some otherwise healthy 50-year-olds will take the same chance. Most insurance includes some kind of pharmacy coverage, which could be an even bigger challenge.
She can’t afford that kind of an increase, and neither can dad. So she’s very close to canceling her health insurance. For a father that lost one child, that’s a deal breaker for me. You don’t want me to share what Kelsey’s hospital bills are and where my family would be without the insurance we had at that time.
There must be a compromise here. We can go all day on the foundation of country and our characterization by politicians left and right to be the “city upon the hill”. Former presidents on both sides of the aisle have referenced that observation of America including Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.
A ’beacon of freedom’ is supposed to be a light for all to see – so we can argue about whether immigration is good or bad for America and whether or not that has pinched the healthcare system. But no one would argue everyone should play by the rules.
The deal with health insurance is this. You shouldn’t have to work hard your whole life just to pay doctors and health facilities. Sure, you have a role to play in staying healthy. But work should be the catalyst for other rewards, right? Rewards that extend beyond being fed and being able to go to the doctor. It also includes being able to avail yourself of the other joys and opportunities this country, and others, present.
I’m too humble to think anyone at a level of influence on the shutdown is reading this, but if you are, all I’d say is this is more than politics. We’re just asking you to see that.
With the holidays upon us, my kid gets to come home. I would prefer that it not be shrouded with despair and I’m pretty sure I didn’t shut the damned thing down – But that’s Beside the Point.
Chuck Vandenberg is editor and co-owner of Pen City Current and can be reached at Charles.V@PenCityCurrent.com.