In the trauma bay, nobody asks a patient how they vote. We ask where it hurts. What happened, and when. Whether we have enough blood. How fast we can get them to the operating room.

But by the time a patient reaches my table, much of their story has already been written, and not by them or by me. Whether they had insurance. Whether they could afford their medications. Whether the ambulance was eight minutes away or 40. Whether the research behind the treatment I am about to give was funded a decade ago.

None of those decisions were made in a hospital. They were made in statehouses, county offices and federal agencies, by people we elected.

On Nov. 3, Americans will vote in the midterm elections. Health won’t appear by name on most ballots. Even so, it's on every one of them.

Behind every health policy is a patient

Washington matters. But so does your governor, who shapes how Medicaid works in your state. Your state legislator, who determines what your health department can afford to do. Your county commissioner, who can influence whether the emergency medical services station down the road is staffed. Your school board, which decides whether a child with asthma has a nurse down the hall.

Science is on the ballot, too. The officials we elect help determine whether we fund the research that becomes tomorrow’s cures, and whether the agencies that keep our food, water and medicines safe have........

© USA TODAY