Guest Editorial: State Senator Matt Klein - Unlike Donald Trump or RFK Jr. – I am a doctor.
Trump and RFK Jr. have pushed our healthcare system over the edge and left Minnesotans at risk - I have a prescription to fix it.
BNB Note:
While politics is often analyzed from the outside, BNB’s Guest Editorial Series aims to flip that perspective by highlighting the firsthand experiences of those working inside the political and policy arena. This includes lawmakers crafting and ushering legislation, candidates navigating the campaign trail, career civil servants implementing public programs, and political operatives shaping strategy behind the scenes.
The goal is not to litigate every claim or endorse every position, but to provide readers with direct insight into how decisions are made, how institutions function, and how power operates in practice.
Below, is a guest editorial from Minnesota State Senator Matt Klein (DFL-SD53). Klein is running in the DFL primary to represent Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District.
Our healthcare system is broken. Sure, it’s been broken for years. But the actions of Donald Trump and RFK Jr. have pushed us over the edge and have left Minnesotans at risk.
In less than two years they have inflicted enduring harm. They ended the tax subsidies that helped make health insurance plans affordable for thousands of Minnesotans, took away Medicaid for 140,000 Minnesotans, and drove rural hospitals into financial free fall, making it even harder for Minnesotans to find the care they need. They are spreading misinformation about vaccines, reducing access to common vaccines that keep us safe, and stopping important research that can help us stay healthy now and into the future.
That puts all of us at risk, particularly as measles cases continue to threaten our children. And they have decimated our international humanitarian work--allowing diseases like Ebola to spread more quickly and placing Americans at risk if these diseases reach our shores.
I’ve held the hand of Minnesotans as they decided between getting the care they needed or going back to work so they could pay their bills. And I’ve seen the impact when patients aren’t taking the medications they’re prescribed because they can’t afford them.
Luckily, unlike Donald Trump or RFK Jr. – I am a doctor. And, I have a prescription to fix our healthcare system.
First, we need to undo Trump and RFK Jr.’s actions. Bring back the ACA tax credits so working Minnesotans can afford insurance. Provide Medicaid to those in need which will help reduce healthcare costs across the board and help keep our rural hospitals open. Trust science again, starting with making vaccines available, bringing back education campaigns about vaccines, and funding research that will keep our communities healthy now and into the future.
Second, we need to finally stand up to drug and insurance companies to bring down costs and make sure Minnesotans have access to the medicine and treatments that they need. We have had some success in Minnesota where we fought insurance companies and were able to bring down drug costs for Minnesotans. In Congress, I will continue this fight to bring down the cost of prescriptions and healthcare and make sure that doctors and patients are making healthcare decisions, not politicians and insurance companies.
Third, we should move toward universal coverage so every Minnesotan can get care when they’re sick and preventive care to keep from getting sick in the first place. It’s good for our people, our society, and our economy. In Congress, I will work to restructure our healthcare system because anything less than an overhaul of the system won’t be enough.
Finally, we just need to make some obvious changes. The actions of ICE in Minnesota this year had a disastrous and potentially long-lasting impact on the health of our immigrant neighbors. We need to get ICE out of our neighborhoods, including our hospitals, so that everyone can safely access the care they need. And, we need to ban assault weapons – something I was proud to support this year in the State Senate. As a doctor at Hennepin Healthcare I saw what these weapons do to a body. It’s time we have a national ban.
Serving this community as a doctor for the last 35 years has been the honor of a lifetime. But with the actions of Donald Trump and RFK Jr., it’s no longer enough to serve patients, we need to fix the system.
In Congress, it will be my top priority to bring down healthcare costs, take on pharmaceutical and insurance companies, overhaul our healthcare system, ensure that ICE stays out of our neighborhoods, and finally pass a national ban on assault weapons.
This is just a start to making sure Minnesotans have what they need to enjoy living in the best state in our nation.