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Voters should choose Jeremy Barton Election Day

I am writing this letter in support of Republican candidate Jeremy Barton for Washington County Commissioner in the upcoming election.

I’ve known Mr. Barton for about a decade, and I can tell you he genuinely cares for the people of this county. In fact, that is why in my many discussions with him on the topic, he is running for the position of county commissioner. I am one of the 300-plus county employees (along with their family members) who have health insurance through our county employment. However, what used to be a benefit of working as a county employee, the health insurance coverage is now an embarrassment and a hardship for all of us.

The current county commissioners voted 2 years ago to drop our coverage rate from 70/30 coverage to 50/50 coverage. Just think about that for a minute. For every doctor bill, every hospital bill, every medical expense incurred, our hard-working county employees are paying for HALF of their expenses on a sub-par health insurance plan that many of us can’t even afford to use.

It’s a sad fact that our current county commissioners did not care enough for our county employees to keep the 70/30 coverage we had, but voted to go with a cheaper plan to save money in the short-term. But, unfortunately, this poor decision by our commissioners will end up costing the county in the long run because more and more employees and their families can’t afford to get the medical treatment they need which will ultimately cause declining health and increasingly more missed work time.

Mr. Barton cares about the families and employees of this county and will work hard to support us. Please vote for Jeremy Barton, Washington County Commissioner!

Matthew A. Joy

President

AFSCME Local #772

Marietta

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