In a country as wealthy and capable as the United States, it’s hard to ignore a painful contradiction at the heart of our healthcare system. The people who write our laws, enforce the law, and interpret the law, members of Congress, the White House, and the federal judiciary, all receive stable, high-quality, taxpayer-subsidized health insurance. Meanwhile, millions of ordinary Americans face rising premiums, shrinking coverage, medical debt, and the constant fear that loss of their jobs and one illness could upend their lives.

This isn’t just a policy gap. It’s an immoral action on behalf of American political leaders. Public officials are shielded from the very hardships they debate and refuse to provide to the average citizen. Political leaders’ coverage is guaranteed. Their premiums are subsidized. Their plans are comprehensive. They never have to worry about losing insurance if they lose an election, change jobs, or face a medical crisis.

The average American has to navigate a healthcare system that is full of uncertainty, one where coverage depends on employment, deductibles can swallow a paycheck, and political gridlock can determine whether families can afford basic care.

When leaders fail to secure protections for the people they serve, trust erodes. A government funded by taxpayers should not provide better care for itself than for the taxpayers who make that system possible. If anything, public servants should feel the urgency of fixing healthcare because they share in its vulnerabilities, not because they’re insulated from them.

A fair society demands that those in power confront the same realities as the people they represent. Until that happens, the moral imbalance at the center of American healthcare will remain impossible to ignore. Again, the wealthiest country in the world fails to fund health for the people.