Economic security means health care access

May 26-- May 26--KALKASKA -- Danielle Stein-Seabolt believes economic security and equal access to health care are the most important issues in America today, and she has good reason to think so.

Stein-Seabolt, 32, survived a brain aneurysm as a young adult while studying for her master's degree in public administration. She was covered by her parents' health insurance policy, thanks to provisions in the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. Without it, she might have faced upward of $300,000 in medical debt, she said.

"Economic security means equal access to quality, affordable health care and lower prescription drug costs because nobody deserves financial disaster because of unexpected medical issues," Stein-Seabolt said.

Today, she is a stay-at-home mother of two -- a 4-month-old named Cora and Harry, 3 years -- raising children with her husband, a union electrician who works in Traverse City. Stein-Seabolt said she considers herself a liberal and she serves as the chairwoman of the Kalkaska County Democratic Party.

She believes in job security and the rights of workers to collectively bargain, a way she said to counter years of stagnant wages in the face of higher costs of living. "It's a loss of the middle class. A lot of my friends have even delayed having children until they could financially afford to," Stein-Seabolt said.

Needed economic revitalization requires investment in infrastructure, she said, such as Soo Locks upgrades, higher quality roads than Michigan currently has and especially broadband internet access statewide -- "things that can level the playing field and get young people to come back to rural Michigan and be able to commute from home," Stein-Seabolt said.

Environmental protections also are important to the rural Kalkaska resident who said her family has made changes to reduce their footprint on the planet, including recycling and using trash bags designed to compost.

"I have kids. That's a huge part of it. Not just for their future, but for their health," Stein-Seabolt said. "I think we need to look more at renewable energy so not only can we go back to the Paris Accord with climate change, but because the natural disasters happening are going to displace thousands of people."

Stein-Seabolt said millennial voters are crucial to the advancement of the issues most important to her, and it's going to take a focus on values rather than clever political arguments to drive them to the polls. Her party must get better at delivering their message, she said.

"Part of what the Democrats are trying to do know is let people know we're here. We are an alternative to what is going on in government right now," Stein-Seabolt said. "We need to express our values rather than talk about the issues. The majority of Americans don't care about plans. They care if they have money in their pocket and if they can enjoy their environment."

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