I write to urge Sen. Jim Hamper, Rep. Tom Winsor and Rep. Roger Jackson, all Republicans, to think about the people in Oxford County that they represent and to vote for the Medicaid expansion when they get the opportunity to do so again.

They represent many of the thousands of people in Oxford County who would then receive insurance that could be life-saving for them. As a former employee of the American Heart Association, I know well the health ravages, compromised lifestyles and deaths from heart disease, stroke and diabetes when they are undiagnosed and untreated.

When the recent votes were taken, I truly believed that they might have the strength to do the right thing for the health of those they serve and vote for expansion, as Republican Bethel Rep. Jarrod Crockett did by voting “Yea.”

Practically everyone has heard, many times, about all of the economic and health reasons for accepting Medicaid expansion, but an additional 210 to 230 medically-related jobs and increasing the economic impacts of current and expanded Medicaid dollars in Oxford County, in addition to the individual health benefits, is extremely compelling.

Voters in Oxford County elected people to serve and represent them. Again, I plead with those elected officials (who have access to health insurance) that they don’t let their constituents lose the opportunity to have health care insurance.

Dennise Whitley, Norway