All Senators Should Tell Us Whose Side They Are On: Insurance Companies, or Consumers
Washington, D.C. – One day after the Trump Administration announced the expansion of junk plans that raise marketplace premiums and eliminate key protections under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Senate Democrats introduced a measure to overturn the regulation under the Congressional Review Act. In response, Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“These junk insurance plans are just that: they’re junk. They raise marketplace premiums, they don’t cover you if you’ve been sick, or if you get sick, they sometimes don’t cover basic health care services, like prescription drugs, and they discriminate against women and people over 50 by charging them more or denying coverage for pregnancy and maternity care. We applaud Senate Democrats for standing up to the Trump Administration, which took its summer of sabotage to a new level by expanding these junk plans that give more power back to insurance companies at a time when they’re raking in record profits. It is time for every Senator to show whose side they are on: that of insurance companies, or that of the American people.”
BACKGROUND
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): “We must continue to prohibit insurers from discriminating against pre-existing conditions.” [Murkowski Remarks to Alaska State Legislature, 2/22/17]
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME): “My concern is to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions.” [Letter to Attorney General, 6/27/18]
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ): “The last thing we need to happen is to have people who have coverage now, to have that coverage that coverage yanked out from under them. Every plan that has been put forward that I will support continues to support those with pre-existing conditions having continued coverage. That’s important.” [Town Hall, 12:40-13:10, 4/13/2017]
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “Everybody I know in the Senate — everybody — is in favor of maintaining coverage for pre-existing conditions.” [Politico, 6/12/18]