Rising health care costs will hurt Main St.

From: Pete Mutschler

Winona

Currently, 40% of the people in this country support the Republican economic policies and claim that we have never been better off and are currently the "hottest" country in the world. That claim needs to be challenged with some facts.

We just sent in our first 2026 monthly premium for health insurance. It is the largest monthly payment we have ever made to anyone. It is a 260% increase over last year. Health insurance alone will cost us approximately $31,000 next year for the highest deductible, highest out-of-pocket limits of any policy we could find. We will still pay for most of our health care costs with this policy. This is what our representative feels is a win for his district.

Before you feel sorry for us, I would like to explain what this means to our community. The extra $20,000 I will be sending to a big office building in the Twin Cities is more than I earn from my business and will need to come out of our savings. This will result in us making drastic cuts to all other expenditures. Think of all the farmers, small business owners, and gig workers who must do the same.

I am apologizing in advance to all the local businesses we have supported in the past, because we can no longer afford to spend money at your establishment. Coffee at the drive-through, breakfast after church, gifts for the grandchildren, fresh produce from the farmers market, tickets to the theater, feed for the birds, membership in local organizations, and many more.

It is not just local business that will be impacted. You will also not see us at Walmart, Target, Menards, Amazon, or any of the other national economic powerhouses in town. I know a lot of you work in these businesses, and you will be impacted by my spending decisions. For that, I am truly sorry.

If this is your version of making America great again, then you missed something important. If people can no longer afford to participate in the economy, they will not. When that happens, everyone loses.

This fall, Mr. Finstad sat around, blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown and defending the cruel policies of our president when he could have been working with other members of Congress to produce a plan that could help fix our health care system. The one plan he voted for doesn't provide any meaningful relief. While he choses to hold true to the talking points of his party, we, his constituents, will not see any meaningful relief until it is too late.

I am still waiting to see what the "concepts" of a plan that his party has had for years will include. All I have seen from Mr. Finstad is how bad the Affordable Care Act was and why the Democrats are so evil in trying to defend it. The check I just sent off is evidence of how this stupidity impacts real people.

I am not a Republican or a Democrat. I am a person. I vote for people who will represent me, not a party. I will miss Senator Miller a lot, because he represented this community well and with intelligence.

I am sorry for the damage my situation will cause the many great business owners in our community, but America is not going in a great direction, and if we, including the 40% who still think what's going on is great, can't all rally together to make serious leadership changes in Washington, then we will have to live with the consequences.