2018 and 2020 Fights Come Back to Life
As election season approaches, Republicans are running on what they know best: raising health care and premium costs, denying coverage and repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). By reigniting their war on health care, Republicans are threatening the historic progress of President Biden and Democrats in Congress, who made health care more affordable than ever before, leading to record ACA enrollment. As it stands, more than 30 million Americans are covered by the ACA and Medicaid expansion, but if Republicans had their way, these families would be thrown off their health care with no where to turn.
REPUBLICAN LEADERS ARE PUSHING TO RAISE HEALTH CARE COSTS AND GUT THE ACA
NRSC Chairman Sen. Rick Scott has rolled out a disastrous agenda for a Republican Senate majority that includes “sunsetting” every federal law after five years – this would include the Affordable Care Act and its protections for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions as well as the crucial lifelines of Social Security and Medicare.
Every Republican on the Senate Finance committee signed a letter opposing the extending of ACA tax credits included in the American Rescue Plan set to expire at the end of 2022. Premium savings under the American Rescue Plan benefit millions of Americans who buy health insurance on their own and save families an average of $2,400 a year.
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE RUNNING ON REPEAL
Arizona: Major candidates for Senate are cheerleaders for repeal. State Attorney General and Senate candidate Mark Brnovich was one of the lead attorneys general seeking to overturn the entire ACA in 2018. Blake Masters called the ACA a “disaster” and Jim Lamon is actively campaigning against the law, proposing to “redesign or eliminate” Obamacare as part of his platform.
Colorado: Three out of four Republican candidates running for the new Eighth District in Colorado have pledged to repeal the ACA. Tyler Alcorn, a former Green Beret; Lori Saine, a Weld County commissioner; and state Thornton Mayor Jan Kulmann all said they would repeal Obamacare if Republicans took control of the House.
Florida: Sen. Marco Rubio has repeatedly voted for ACA repeal plans. And he refused to condemn Florida’s involvement in the GOP lawsuit to fully dismantle the law and its coverage protection for Americans with pre-existing conditions.
Missouri: Senate Candidate and Attorney General Eric Schmitt was another leader seeking to overturn the entire ACA in the courts in 2018. Reps. Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler, who are also running for Senate, are longtime opponents of the ACA and voted for the 2017 AHCA GOP repeal plan that would have slashed coverage protections and driven up costs. And Eric Greitens has backed GOP ACA repeal plans for years. In the state house, Republicans continue to drag their feet and erect barriers to Medicaid expansion in Missouri, years after voters cleared it in a referendum.
Nevada: Senate Candidate Adam Laxalt has campaigned against the Affordable Care Act for years, calling it the “most flawed piece of major legislation America has ever endured.” Laxalt, who owns tens of thousands of dollars in Big Pharma stock, has also opposed efforts to give Medicare the authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
North Carolina: Two Republican Senate candidates in North Carolina – Ted Budd and Mark Walker – supported the 2017 GOP AHCA repeal plan, voting to gut pre-existing condition coverage protections and let insurance companies charge older Americans more for coverage. And former Governor Pat McCrory, now running for Senate himself, spent his term in office working feverishly to block Medicaid expansion in North Carolina.
Ohio: Every GOP Senate candidate in Ohio has spent years cheerleading for repeal of the ACA. In 2012, Josh Mandel said he was “hopeful” that he would be the deciding vote to repeal the ACA. Jane Tiken first got involved in politics because of her zeal to repeal Obamacare. In 2017, Mike Gibbons called the law “a disaster” and said “after we repeal ObamaCare, we need to start from scratch.” And on his campaign website in 2022, Matt Dolan continues to claim that the ACA was “conceived wrongly, implemented poorly and has become a tool of partisan grift.”
Pennsylvania: Dr. Mehmet Oz spent years supporting the ACA and promoting enrollment, but now that he’s running for Senate as a Republican, he calls the ACA “wrong” and says he “would not have voted for Obamacare.”
Wisconsin: Sen. Ron Johnson said in March 2022 that Republicans should repeal the ACA if they retake the Senate following on his comments from 2021 when he said he regrets that Republicans have failed to eliminate the law. Meanwhile Republicans in the state house continue to block Medicaid expansion in Wisconsin.