As Senator Lamar Alexander takes D.C. Republican politics to Tennessee in a blame-deflecting letter-to-the-editor, Protect Our Care is checking the facts:
“Republicans’ repeated efforts to sabotage the health care system are driving up health care costs across the country, and now Republican Senators who could have protected Americans but chose not to are running scared. For proof, look no further than the top Senate Republican on health care, Lamar Alexander, who just wrote a letter to his hometown paper in a last-ditch attempt to duck responsibility for the pain he’s causing American families. Senator Alexander has developed a history of misleading the public about health care, and once again, his claims just don’t pass the smell test,” said Brad Woodhouse, Campaign Director for Protect Our Care.
LIE 1: That efforts to stabilize health care markets failed because of Democrats. Republican poison pills on reproductive rights are what killed those efforts – full stop. Democrats continue to make overtures to Alexander on stabilization, but in a letter to lobbyists, he unilaterally declared he was walking away from the negotiating table.
LIE 2: That letting Lamar Alexander repeal the Affordable Care Act would have made matters better for anyone. In fact, millions of Americans would have lost their coverage, millions more with preexisting conditions would have faced discrimination from insurance companies, and premiums would have soared.
LIE 3: That Lamar Alexander is a moderate, reasonable or thoughtful voice on health care. His first priority is always repeal, making him no different from far-right Republicans like the Freedom Caucus or the Koch Brothers, who have been pouring millions of dollars into smearing the law for almost a decade. After this spring’s stabilization farce, Lamar Alexander has spent his last shreds of bipartisan credibility, and his letter indicates that people in Tennessee are noticing.