In between lectures and trips to the library, this Ann Arbor native is helping Michiganders feel empowered at the polls.
It can be easy for anyone to feel like their vote doesn’t matter—especially when life gets busy. But medical students like Vidhya Premkumar are learning that their patients’ votes are powerful tools when it comes to getting and affording health care.
“Voting to me has always been a form of empowerment—it’s a way for me to advocate for policies and issues that I am passionate about and are very important,” said the Ann Arbor native in an interview with The ‘Gander.
It’s one thing for a physician to treat a patient for, say, diabetes. But once that patient leaves the clinic, they need to be able to pick up their insulin prescription. And if their health insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare doesn’t help cover the cost, that patient may not be able to afford the lifesaving drug. But patients have more power than they realize, Premkumar said—at the ballot box.
“[Voting] allows our voices to be heard on local and federal levels,” she said.
Many people don’t realize that state governments decide what health insurance companies, Medicaid, and Medicare must fund for the folks who live there. Learning about which candidates support their health care priorities, and then voting for those candidates, can sometimes make all the difference to a patient’s health and pocketbook for the next several years.
While working as a Spanish Medical Interpreter through Community Led Interpreters for Medical Equity—part of the University of Michigan’s Student Run-Free Clinic—as an undergraduate student, Premkumar witnessed firsthand how social determinants of health impacted patients’ access to health care—like language barriers preventing patients from being able to advocate for themselves in a clinical setting.
“That was what really honed me into wanting to delve deeper into policies that affected patient health care access,” Premkumar said. “And, I think, kind of what started me to get involved with the intricacies of voting—the voting system, how to register to vote, and getting people excited to vote.”
Today, as a second-year medical student at Michigan State University, Premkumar believes that health care can play an essential role in voter access. That’s why she and some of her classmates are teaming up with Vot-ER—a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has developed civic engagement tools and programs for every corner of the health care system, including medical schools. This fall, they’ll help host voter registration tables in MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
The tables won’t just help MSU’s medical students become registered voters. Premkumar hopes that seeing them will inspire future health care providers to help their patients advocate for themselves.
“Health care plays an essential role in voter access because it comes down to social determinants of health—recognizing the structures and systems that create barriers for people to not only voice their vote but also access the care that they need.”
