Trump-GOP Likely to Stump on Lies in Minnesota Tonight at a Time when Nearly Two-in-three Minnesota Voters Say Health Care is a Top Issue in the Election
Washington, DC – As President Trump prepares to campaign for House Republicans in Rochester, MN tonight, Protect Our Care warns these pro-repeal Republicans that health care is a top issue to Minnesota voters, who disapprove of Republican attacks on pre-existing conditions and the pro-repeal record of incumbents like Jason Lewis and Erik Paulsen. Recognizing how deeply unpopular the Trump-GOP health care agenda has been, Trump and his allies have resorted to lying to the American people about their record on health care, as three separate outlets this week have determined. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement in response:
“At a time when Minnesotans want their elected officials to strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions, politicians like Erik Paulsen and Jason Lewis have instead taken up arms in Trump’s war on health care. Worse, they have claimed to support these protections after voting numerous times to eliminate them and then doing nothing to defend them in the wake of a Trump administration lawsuit to eviscerate them. Voters in Minnesota are angry about it, and every indication is that they are preparing to take this anger out at the polls.”
Additional Information
Erik Paulsen Voted At Least Four Times to Fully Repeal The ACA And Its Protections For 2.3 Million Minnesotans with Pre-Existing Conditions, Including Voting for AHCA
Jason Lewis Voted Twice to Repeal or Substantially Alter The ACA And Its Protections For 2.3 Million Minnesotans with Pre-Existing Conditions, Including Voting for AHCA
What would full repeal of the Affordable Care Act eliminate in Minnesota?
- Protections for 2,331,000 Minnesotans, including 304,100 of Lewis’s constituents in MN-02 and 27,700 in Paulsen’s district MN-03 with pre-existing conditions, if they buy coverage on their own
- Improvements to Medicare, including reduced costs for prescription drugs
- Allowing kids to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26
- Ban on annual and lifetime limits
- Ban on insurance discrimination against women
- Limit on out-of-pocket costs
- Medicaid expansion currently covering 223,000 people
- Marketplace tax credits and coverage for up to 140,000 Minnesotans
What Did AHCA Mean for Minnesota?
- In 2026, more than 254,000 Minnesotans would lose coverage under this bill, including 28,500 in Lewis’s district and 27,700 in Paulsen’s district.
- The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the American Health Care Act would have raised premiums 20 percent in 2018.
- AHCA imposed what the AARP calls an “age tax” on older Americans. In Minnesota, out-of-pocket costs for older people could increase by as much as $11,564 by 2026.
- The negative economic impact of the American Health Care Act would cause 24,785 Minnesotans to lose their jobs by 2022, including 1,618 in the 2nd congressional district and 1,062 in the 3rd congressional district
What Did AHCA Mean For Pre-Existing Conditions?
- The American Health Care Act weakens key protections of the Affordable Care Act by allowing states to let insurers charge people with pre-existing conditions more, among other provisions. The bill would also make it more likely insurers would cherrypick young and healthier people, causing costs to skyrocket for older, sicker people.
- The American Health Care Act allowed states to eliminate community rating, meaning insurers would be able to charge people with pre-existing conditions more. This surcharge could be in the tens of thousands of dollars and even six figures: up to $4,270 for asthma, $17,060 for pregnancy, $26,180 for rheumatoid arthritis and $140,510 for metastatic cancer.
- Politifact found that AHCA “would weaken protections” for those with pre-existing conditions and “would allow states to give insurers the power to charge people significantly more.”