Washington DC – As President Trump prepares to stump for Congressional Republicans tonight in Erie, Pennsylvania, Reps. Lou Barletta and Mike Kelly are hard at work sabotaging health care. But after two years with Donald Trump in the White House and the GOP controlled Congress, a new report shows Pennsylvanians are still struggling to keep up with the rising costs of health care and prescription drug prices. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement ahead of Trump’s campaign appearance:
“Let’s be clear, Lou Barletta and Mike Kelly aren’t focused on the millions of hard-working Americans with pre-existing conditions, they are only focused on lining the pockets of big insurance companies and continuing their war against our health care. Mike Kelly himself said it’s a ‘business proposition’ for insurance companies to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and Lou Barletta refuses to stand up against Trump’s lawsuit to gut protections for pre-existing conditions. Barletta and Kelly are two peas in a pod, breaking promise after promise when it comes to lowering out-of-pocket costs and protecting our health care. Pennsylvanians are rightfully angry about their record.”
Additional Background:
Lou Barletta and Mike Kelly’s Record On Health Care are In Conflict with Their Constituents’ Wishes
Barletta and Kelly Voted to Repeal The ACA And Its Protections For 5.3 Million Pennsylvanians with Pre-Existing Conditions Numerous Times
- Barletta Boated Of Voting More Than 30 Times To Repeal The ACA. “Even though the United States Supreme Court said the president’s healthcare law is a constitutional law, that doesn’t mean it is a good law. The decision was a victory for big government and a defeat for individual freedom. Since being sworn in, I have voted to protect and strengthen seniors’ benefits by repealing the president’s healthcare law over thirty times.” [Barletta.House.Gov, accessed 10/3/18]
- Kelly Said His Goal Was “Full Repeal.” “Representative Kelly and House Republicans have tackled ObamaCare on all fronts and share the same end goal: full repeal.” [Kelly.House.Gov, accessed 9/24/18]
Barletta and Kelly Voted For The AHCA, Which Would Eliminate Protections for Pre-Existing Conditions and Increase Premiums.
- 2017: Barletta and Kelly Voted For AHCA. Barletta voted for passage of the American Health Care Act. [HR 1628, Roll Call Vote #256, 5/4/17]
Mike Kelly Said That Insurers Should Be Able To Discriminate Against Pre-Existing Conditions Under AHCA Because “It Is A Business Proposition.” “Mike Kelly: Pre-existing is very important to the people I represent back home. I understand that. I will fight for those things, but at the end of the day, at the end of the day, there is a business proposition that’s going to be put out there. Insurers are no different than any other business out there. You look at the market that you serve, you look at the people that you serve and you come up with different plans. So there’s not a one size fits all. And certainly for younger people and healthy people, they say why should I be taxed with all these increases? When you say, look, it’s in the whole. In the whole, how are we going to get there? It is a business. It is a business proposition.” [“CNN Newsroom,” CNN, 5/1/17]
Barletta Refused To Oppose The Trump Administration’s Lawsuit To Strip Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions. “Republican U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, who’s running against Casey in the fall Senate race, would not comment on the court fight but said he’d support bills to protect that coverage. ‘Regardless of what happens here, there has to be a plan that makes sure that there’s coverage for pre-existing conditions. We can’t leave them out without any insurance,’ Barletta told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 during a campaign stop in Beaver County.” [WTAE, 8/8/18]
How Their Votes Would Harm People in Pennsylvania
Total Repeal of the ACA Would Eliminate:
What would full repeal of the Affordable Care Act eliminate?
- Protections for 5.3 million Pennsylvanians 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
- Limits on out-of-pocket costs
- Medicaid expansion, currently covering 15 million people
- Rules to hold insurance companies accountable
- Small business tax credits
- Marketplace tax credits and coverage for up to 363,000 Pennsylvanians.
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.
In Pennsylvania, AHCA would mean that in in 2026, 777,000 Pennsylvanians would lose coverage and 51,586 Pennsylvanians to lose their jobs by 2022.