During the question round of the 2017 Miss USA pageant, each of the Top 5 finalists were asked about their views on certain issues, such as suicide prevention, cyberbullying, and even healthcare. Miss DC spoke about affordable healthcare during Miss USA, and her response totally missed the mark when it comes to concerns about providing healthcare for Americans. Miss District Of Columbia Kára McCullough is a physical scientist at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and her position in the U.S. government could grant her different healthcare than other Americans.
And she did note that in her answer. "I’m definitely going to say it’s a privilege," McCullough said in her response, regarding affordable healthcare. "As a government employee, I am granted healthcare." But then, her answer takes an odd tangent — instead of talking more about the issue of repealing the Affordable Care Act, or the issues of the new American Healthcare Act, McCullough steered her response in the direction of job creation.
"And I see firsthand that for one to have healthcare, you need to have jobs," McCullough continued. "So therefore we need to continue to cultivate this environment that we’re given the opportunity to have healthcare as well as jobs to all the American citizens worldwide.” Miss DC would go on to win the Miss USA 2017 by the end of the night.
If you remember correctly, the Affordable Care Act was passed into law in 2010 and it gave people who do not work full-time jobs the opportunity to purchase healthcare themselves. I'm not saying that system was perfect, but it showed that jobs aren't necessarily the key to obtaining health insurance. Miss DC completely missed the point, in that affordable healthcare isn't about getting employment, but making health insurance more available for everyone, regardless of status.
