Opinion: I’m a college student who suffered a heart failure. Take candidates’ healthcare records seriously, you may need it.

In January, my life changed forever when I suffered severe heart failure. 

I spent two weeks at the Geisinger Medical Center, then transferred by helicopter to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In February, doctors performed open heart surgery and inserted an LVAD (left ventricular assist device) heart pump in my chest. Now I am on the transplant list for a new heart. 

I realize many college students may not have heart problems. But they suffer from many other medical issues that require treatment. A survey of U.S. college students in Fall 2023 found that about one-third of students (34) had been diagnosed with a cold/virus or other respiratory illness in the past 12 months and anxiety was the second most often reported condition that college students saw a healthcare professional for in the past year. Other health conditions college students saw a healthcare provider about were thyroid conditions, depression, and bipolar and related conditions.

For these reasons, it is critically important to have access to affordable quality healthcare. It also is among the reasons why I support Vice President Kamala Harris for president. 

As a Senator, Harris fought Donald Trump’s multiple attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which many college students depend upon, including for reproductive health. As president, Harris will expand and strengthen the Affordable Care Act and make permanent the Biden-Harris tax credit enhancements that are lowering health care premiums by an average of about $800 a year for millions of Americans. 

In contrast, when Trump was president, he tried to replace the ACA with various plans that would have increased the number of uninsured Americans to 51 million and stopped payments for cost-sharing subsidies, which contributed to premiums increasing. 

In addition, Trump’s Project 2025 plan, if he is elected president again, would unravel the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and curtail fertility care. It would limit or remove health insurance coverage for millions of people and replace it with insurance plans that lack many of the ACA’s signature protections, like requiring coverage for essential health benefits, prohibiting exclusion based on preexisting conditions, and reducing prescription drug costs. It also threatens the health and rights of LGBTQ+ patients and their physicians, including scaling back laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, proposing a federal ban on care related to gender identity, and prioritizing religion-based objections to treating sexual and gender minority patients.

On education issues, Vice President Harris has helped deliver the largest investment in public education in American history, provide nearly $170 billion in student debt relief for almost 5 million borrowers, and deliver record investments in HBCUs, Tribal Colleges, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and other minority-serving institutions. She helped more students afford college by increasing the maximum Pell Grant award by $900 — the largest increase in more than a decade — and invested in community colleges.

In contrast, Trump’s Project 2025 would eliminate the Biden-Harris administration’s income-based repayment plans and do away with federal student debt forgiveness for public-service workers, which so far has cleared almost $70 billion in student debt for nearly 950,000 borrowers. On average, more than 43 million Americans with federal student loan debtwould pay up to 2 times more per month under the Project 2025 plan, with increased payments totaling more than $1,800 a year.

In short, college students literally cannot afford another Trump administration. I urge my fellow students to register to vote by the deadline this Monday, Oct. 21, and to vote for Kamala Harris as president. If you attend Penn State as I do, you can register at the satellite election office at the Hammond Building at the corner of West College Ave. and Allen St.