Washington, D.C. – Today, Leighan Gonzales, a 23 year old University of Alaska, Anchorage student, met with Senator Lisa Murkowski to discuss how Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court threatens protections for Alaskans with pre-existing conditions.
Leighan was was born with a heart condition that required open heart surgery at five months old – a pre-existing condition protected by the Affordable Care Act. She traveled 14 hours from Alaska this week to meet with her senator to make sure her concerns were heard, especially on behalf of the 320,000 Alaskans with pre-existing conditions who were not able to make the trek.
“Today, I met with Senator Murkowski to ask her to vote no on Judge Kavanaugh,” said Leighan. “As an Alaskan with a pre-existing condition, I am very concerned that protections for people with pre-existing conditions and Medicaid are in jeopardy. Senator Murkowski has stood up for Alaskans before, and I hope that she will do it again.”
For the past 18 months, the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress and states across the country have been waging a relentless war on our health care. The Trump Administration has turned to executive orders and regulations to roll back the Affordable Care Act (ACA) piece by piece, all while joining a lawsuit that threatens to upend protections for people with pre-existing conditions and end the Medicaid expansion, which was signed into law in Alaska by Governor Bill Walker. Judge Kavanaugh has criticized the Supreme Court’s previous decision in favor of the ACA, and has said that a president may refuse to enforce laws he disagrees with.
Concerned Alaskans have held 12 press calls, press conferences, and events across the state in the six weeks since Kavanaugh’s nomination was announced. In each instance, Alaskans relying on protections for pre-existing conditions or expanded Medicaid services created by the ACA have made clear that Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination would be disastrous for thousands of Alaskans, and have implored their Senators to vote no.