Yesterday, Congressman Erik Paulsen voted along with all of his Republican colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee against a measure to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions from discrimination. In Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, there are 310,200 people with pre-existing conditions. DCCC spokesperson Rachel Irwin released the following statement:
“Congressman Erik Paulsen has once again sided with party bosses and special interests in Washington over his constituents, voting to allow insurance companies to deny coverage to the hundreds of thousands of people in his district with asthma, diabetes, and other pre-existing conditions. Minnesotans will remember this betrayal in November as healthcare is top of mind for voters.”
This vote comes just a few weeks after Rep. Paulsen’s spokesperson, said in a statement to the Star Tribune that, “Rep. [Erik] Paulsen has long supported protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, and he continues to do so.”
Here are the facts: Paulsen has taken more than $1.2 million from the insurance industry and voted dozens of times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would’ve eliminated protections for those with pre-existing conditions. In 2017, he voted for the AHCA, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and Politifact confirmed would gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions, including making health insurance unaffordable for older Americans and jack up premiums. Paulsen has also failed to stand up to Trump’s administration ongoing efforts to dismantle pre-existing conditions protections.