Health care in Western Pennsylvania keeps getting more expensive while the choices shrink. Families who buy insurance directly face premiums that feel like a second mortgage.

Small business owners struggle to offer coverage at all. Medicare Advantage networks are narrow, and many people wait months for specialty care. Rural hospitals remain under financial pressure, forcing residents to drive long distances for routine services.

This is kitchen-table economics. Health care costs shape whether people can save, hire, retire or stay in their communities. But these outcomes are not accidental; they are shaped in part by federal policy.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has major influence over Medicare, hospital reimbursement and insurance markets. During eight terms in Congress and years on a committee with that level of authority, Western Pennsylvania should be seeing clearer improvements than rising premiums, shrinking networks and reduced access, especially in rural counties.

Instead, the same problems persist.

Our district deserves a representative who treats health care as the vital issue it is, not just a talking point. Someone who will use their position to push for stronger competition, better support for rural hospitals, and policies that reflect what families and small businesses here are actually facing.

I am not sure Mike Kelly truly grasps what families and small businesses here are actually facing.

Health care isn’t just a talking point in Butler County. It shows up every month in household budgets. We need fresh leadership that understands that reality.

Danielle Fannin,

Center Township