U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright speaks on Public Square Monday afternoon during Protect Our Care’s nationwide “Lower Costs, Better Care” bus tour. On his left is health care advocate Laura Packard, another of Monday’s speakers.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Congressman makes stop on Public Square
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Laura Packard (second from left) detailed her own experiences with the costs of health care as a cancer survivor. From left: U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright; Laura Packard; Mike Berman, director of Protect our Care Pennsylania; and Scranton-based health care worker Krysten Xanthis.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
The Protect Our Care tour is making 36 stops in 19 states across the country, riding around in “Care Force One.”
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright was in town Monday, joining health care advocates from Protect Our Care Pennsylvania, to call for the expansion and improvement in health care for the American people that would be put in place by President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.
Cartwright addressed members of the media on Public Square just before 4 p.m. on Monday, flanked by health care advocate Laura Packard and Scranton-based health care worker Krysten Xanthis, who both shared their own personal experiences struggling with the high costs of quality healthcare.
“I’m proud to be here with our friends who protect our care,” Cartwright said on Monday. “American families should not have to choose between purchasing life-saving medicine for their kids and putting food on the table.”
The backdrop for the speakers was a blue bus with a decal above the windshield proclaiming the bus to be named “Care Force One.”
Additional messaging on the vehicle included the Protect Our Care organizations’s mission: “Fighting For Lower Costs and Better Care.”
Monday’s event was part of a nationwide tour that Protect Our Care is doing to promote the work that Biden and Congressional Democrats are doing to keep critical health care measures on the table during upcoming budget reconciliation legislation sessions.
“We’re doing 36 events in 19 states, from Maine all the way to California,” said Mike Berman, the director of Protect Our Care Pennsylvania. “Along the way we’re including speakers like the ones we have today, along with legislators who are fighting for better health care for the American people.”
First to speak was Xanthis, who recounted just how hard it was for her not only to afford the costs of prescription medication, but also the struggle to keep afloat with the wages she makes.
“It’s so hard to come up with the money for copays and prescriptions. … We’re all just trying to make ends meet,” Xanthis said. “I had to sell a number of personal items just to pay bills.”
As a caregiver, Xanthis explained how she and her fellow healthcare workers have been on the front lines for over a year caring for people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And long before COVID, we’ve always shown up to care for older adults and those with disabilities,” she said. “Now it’s time for Congress to take care of us.”
After Xanthis was done, Packard detailed her own harrowing experience with high drug prices, and how it almost cost her her life.
“I walked into a doctor’s office four years ago with a nagging cough, and walked out with a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis,” Packard said. “I went through six months of chemotherapy, and a doctor prescribed me a drug for after the treatments.
“The price tag was so high, I just went without it. I got sick and wound up in the hospital for a week. … I almost died.”
She credited the Affordable Care Act with saving her life, and she called upon Cartwright to keep fighting for better health care.
“We have a chance right now to make health care better for millions of Americans,” Packard said. “I hope Congressman Cartwright will lead the charge.”
The Congressman detailed how, when he first was seated in Congress, the Affordable Care Act was “in the balance,” and he decided to get behind it when he saw how the Act had helped keep a number of hospitals in business.
“Untreated problems get worse, not better, and when hospitals go out of business, you get more untreated problems,” Cartwright said. “In the end, [the Affordable Care Act] has helped us keep hospitals open.”
He expressed his “full-throated support” for Biden’s plans for health care going forward, highlighting some of the key components that will serve the best interests of the American people.
“Build Back Better is about three things: lower costs, better care and more jobs,” Cartwright said. “We’ve got bipartisan support on some parts of it, and a lot of support from the American public.”
The Protect our Care tour made an earlier stop in New Brunswick, N.J. on Monday, and will continue its trek with stops in New Jersey and Delaware on Tuesday.