PROTECT OUR CARE ** WEEKLY WRAP up ** [ July 14-20, 2018 ]
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PROTECT OUR CARE ** WEEKLY WRAP UP ** [ July 14-20, 2018 ] = [Read Protect Our Care’s new report] Protect Our Care Releases New Report Highlighting Trump Administration’s “Summer of Sabotage” As the one-year anniversary of bipartisan defeat of Affordable Care Act repeal in the United States Senate approaches, Protect Our Care today released a detailed report, Summer of Sabotage, which comprehensively lays out the extensive campaign the Trump Administration has undertaken to sabotage health care just in the last few months. The report covers every act of administrative sabotage since May, from the proliferation of junk plans and slashing funding for enrollment assistance to the nomination of an anti-health care judge to the Supreme Court. Read the report here. “The Summer of Sabotage report lays out exactly what the president has done and how it will hurt patients,” said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. “This is a critical time in this fight because if the president and his backers get their way, insurance companies will once again be able to jack up prices – or even deny care – to people with a pre-existing health condition. The American people need to know, so they can stand up and fight back.” In addition to providing a status report on the premium increases insurance companies have filed this summer, the report analyzes a number of actions the Trump administration has undertaken to sabotage our care, including: ● Arguing against protections for people with pre-existing conditions in federal court; ● Encouraging Americans to sign up for junk plans, which would bring back discrimination against women, people with pre-existing conditions and people over age 50; ● Nominating Brett Kavanaugh, an extreme anti-health care judge, to the Supreme Court; ● Slashing funding for navigators that help Americans obtain insurance; ● Restricting access to Medicaid; ● Making it harder to find information about the ACA online, and ● Freezing the risk adjustment program, which could unnecessarily drive up premiums. Check out how the report was covered in the Connecticut Post: ● Connecticut Post: Murphy Highlights ‘Sabotage’ plan to repeal Affordable Care Act. Senate Democrats Launch Historic Defense of Protections for People With Pre- existing Conditions. Will Republicans Step Up? President Trump recently joined Republican attorneys general and governors in 20 states to use the courts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and strike down protections for people with pre-existing conditions, women, and people over 50. In response, Democratic Senators Joe Manchin, Bob Casey, Claire McCaskill, Chuck Schumer, and Patty Murray introduced a resolution to demand the Senate go to court and defend our health care law and protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement in response: “Republicans have repeatedly said they care about people with pre-existing conditions, but every chance they get they turn a blind eye to the Trump Administration’s campaign to repeal protections for them in the law or, worse, they vote to take these protections away. Now, Republicans have a chance to make it right. The Trump administration has gone to court to try to strike down protections for the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions including cancer, diabetes and asthma. If Republicans in Congress won’t endorse this resolution, they will once again make clear they’re on the side of insurance companies, not Americans who work for a living. Thank goodness Democrats will not stop fighting for the protections that prevent insurance companies from jacking up premiums for people with pre-existing conditions — or denying us care altogether — because if Democrats stopped fighting, these protections would be long gone by now.” 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] Senate Democrats Pressure GOP To Oppose Trump's Pre-existing Strikedown Lawsuit In June, President Trump’s Department of Justice announced that it would go to court in support of a lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Yesterday, Senate Democrats, including Joe Manchin (WV), Claire McCaskill (MO), Bob Casey (PA), Joe Donnelly (IN), Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Jon Tester (MT), Sherrod Brown (OH) and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), fought back by introducing a resolution that would authorize the Senate to step up to defend protections for pre-existing conditions in court. While all 49 Senate Democrats sponsored the resolution, not a single Republican has signed on despite many paying lip service to the importance of protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Here’s how it was covered: The Hill: Dems Pressure GOP To Take Legal Action Supporting Pre-Existing Conditions. “Senate Democrats are targeting Republicans on health care, urging them to sign on to a resolution that would allow the Senate to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the legality of ObamaCare. The resolution, introduced Thursday, would allow the Office of Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in a case brought by Republican attorneys general that argues ObamaCare is now unconstitutional since Congress repealed the 2010 law's individual mandate last year.” [The Hill, 7/19/18] WV MetroNews: Manchin Leads Democrats On Resolution Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions Coverage. “Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., introduced a resolution Thursday asking for the Senate Legal Counsel to represent the legislative chamber in Texas v. United States — a lawsuit involving West Virginia and 19 other states — in defense of “Obamacare” and its provisions, specifically the guarantee of health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions...Manchin said 800,000 West Virginians would be at risk of losing insurance coverage if protections for pre-existing conditions were eliminated.” [WV MetroNews, 7/19/18] St. Louis Post-Dispatch: McCaskill Co-Sponsors Senate Move To Oppose Hawley Backed Lawsuit Challenging Obamacare. “Sen. Claire McCaskill is co-sponsoring a resolution that would direct Senate lawyers to defend against a lawsuit trying to kill the Affordable Care Act, a move that has virtually no chance of passing but highlights the great divide between her and Attorney General Josh Hawley on a key issue in Missouri’s nationally watched Senate race. McCaskill, D-Mo., along with Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Thursday they would introduce the resolution.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/19/18] WBIW: Donnelly Continues To Fight To Protect Hoosiers with Pre-Existing Conditions. “U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly continued his fight for quality, affordable health care coverage for Hoosiers with pre-existing conditions by joining a resolution that would allow the Senate's Legal Counsel to represent the Senate in Texas v. United States. This would enable the Senate to defend protections for Americans with pre-existing condition against the current lawsuit seeking to make this provision unconstitutional.” [WBIW, 7/20/18] Newsmax: “Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and a cadre of Democrats are taking steps to protect the healthcare coverage of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions.” “Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and a cadre of Democrats are taking steps to protect the healthcare coverage of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions. Nelson et al filed a resolution Thursday authorizing the Senate Legal Counsel to take up defense of a federal lawsuit, Texas v. United States, which would undo protections for those with preexisting conditions.” [Newsmax, 7/20/18] Roll Call: Democrats Push Senate To Take Legal Action Backing Pre-existing Condition Protections. “Democratic senators want the chamber to go to court to defend health insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions...Manchin and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., are among those leading the introduction of a Senate resolution that would authorize the Senate to take legal action to intervene in litigation led by Texas that could undercut the protections on the health insurance exchanges and in the broader market. Morrisey and Hawley have signed on to the lawsuit, so it is no surprise that the Democratic Senate incumbents they’re challenging in 2018 would take the lead on the new legislative effort.” [Roll Call, 7/19/18] Washington Examiner: “Senate Democrats Want To Intervene In A Lawsuit That Would End Obamacare’s Protections For Pre-existing Conditions.” “Senate Democrats want to intervene in a lawsuit that would end Obamacare’s protections for pre-existing conditions after the Trump administration declined to defend the healthcare law. A group of Democratic senators introduced a resolution on Thursday that would have the Senate intervene