Washington DC – This week, Senator Thom Tillis along with other Senate Republicans introduced legislation that amounts to nothing more than political cover for their repeated attempts to strip health care away from millions of Americans.
It is clear that this legislation is the GOP’s phony attempt at claiming support for protections for pre-existing conditions, as an LA Times editorial today put it bluntly, “The bill pretends to be about safeguarding Americans with preexisting health conditions. But it’s really about protecting Senate Republicans from the stink caused by the Trump administration’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act…”
For years, Republicans like Tillis have promised to rip apart the nation’s health care laws, and this past year have seized on the opportunity to back Trump’s lawsuit that would strip health care away from millions of Americans and end those same protections for pre-existing conditions they claim to support.
On a press call this Thursday, Protect Our Care’s executive director Brad Woodhouse made clear the bill “is simply a piece of political CYA for Republican senators who are up,” in 2020:
“Republicans claim this is a piece of legislation to protect people with pre-existing conditions, but it does nothing of the kind. The bill’s sponsors like Senator Tills have repeatedly claimed that repealing the ACA are among their top priorities in the Senate and all support Trump’s Texas lawsuit that would not only rip up the nation’s health care laws, but strip away the same protections for people with pre-existing conditions that they claim to support. It’s clear that this legislation is nothing more than a piece of political CYA for endangered Republicans like Thom Tillis who are up for reelection in 2020.”