To the editor,

Healthcare prices continue to skyrocket, and Derrick Van Orden doesn’t care - he has voted to make access more expensive for Wisconsinites. 

He voted for the 2025 tax bill that they called One Big Beautiful Bill - it should have been called One Big Billionaire Bill (OBBB), because that’s who benefits, not the rest of us. While he receives gold plated healthcare paid for by us, the taxpayers, he voted to put the screws to the rest of us.

That 2025 OBBB tax bill that Van Orden voted for is cutting Medicaid by $1 trillion, permanently, causing up to a quarter million Wisconsinites to lose quality healthcare access through 2027. In Wisconsin, almost 1.3 million people are enrolled in Medicaid – 37% are children, 29% live in rural areas and 14% have chronic conditions. 55% are elderly nursing home residents and 46% are adults with disabilities. Of the adults who receive Medicaid, 73% work full or part time. We have a lot of rural elderly in our district. Is your grandmother going to be kicked out of her nursing home?

Why don’t our fellow citizens deserve health care at the level Van Orden receives?

The devastating effects of Van Orden’s vote across Wisconsin. 

The OBBB intentionally scheduled the worst cuts to healthcare access to occur after this fall’s election so you would not feel the pain before you vote. 

Some people are drowning in medical debt and can’t afford the health insurance premiums. Forbes recently reported: two out of three personal bankruptcies are due to medical expenses or illness-related loss of work. And it’s going to get worse for the next decade or more, because Van Orden voted for this 2025 tax bill.

Over 13,000 Wisconsinites have already dropped their Medicaid coverage as a result of this bill. About 20% of our fellow citizens receive some sort of healthcare coverage and services that are being cut.

More and more people are struggling with impossible decisions, deciding between paying for healthcare, food, gas or rent. 

Van Orden needs to be held responsible for abandoning his duty to his constituents. We need to recognize how his votes affect our lives and vote him out of office this Nov.3. 

Prescott Bergh

Four Winds Farm

River Falls