Health scare 2018: How Minnesota campaigns are exploiting voters’ anxiety over health care

Credit: Getty/Sebastian Rose

The battle over health care — something that has become a defining feature of the 2018 midterm elections — has, in the final stretch of the campaign, come down to Republicans and Democrats making two different but equally emphatic assurances to voters.

Democrats are running on the argument that Republicans, if they retain majorities in Congress, would take another stab at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, and would aim to kill some of the law’s most popular planks — including its protections for individuals with pre-existing health conditions.

Republicans, meanwhile, insist that they have never, and would not ever, attempt to undermine the Obamacare provision that helped people with pre-existing conditions access more affordable health coverage. They’re issuing a warning of their own: if Democrats take control on Capitol Hill, they will push plans that would dramatically expand government health care programs — paving the way to ruin them at the expense of the seniors and families who need them most.

View the complete October 19 article by Sam Brody on the MinnPost website here.

Health Care Premiums Increased 16% From Trump & Republican Sabotage

Trump and Republicans are lying to voters about their health care sabotage. According to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, their sabotage of the Affordable Care Act has caused health care premiums for silver benchmark marketplace plans to be 16 percent higher than they would be otherwise.

Health care premiums for silver benchmark marketplace plans are 16% higher than they would have been without Trump and Republicans’ health care sabotage.

Kaiser Family Foundation: “Combined with estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, our analysis suggests the elimination of the cost-sharing subsidy and individual mandate penalty, as well as expansion of more loosely regulated plans, has caused on-exchange silver premiums to be 16% higher than would otherwise be the case.”

As many as 130 million Americans have a pre-existing condition and could lose their coverage if Trump and Republicans end the ACA’s protections.

Wall Street Journal: “About 130 million non-elderly people in the U.S. suffer from an existing medical condition, and a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 75% of voters consider it ‘very important’ that the ACA’s provision guaranteeing such coverage remains law.” Continue reading “Health Care Premiums Increased 16% From Trump & Republican Sabotage”

Three Times Karin Housley Would Have Gutted Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions

St. Paul – Karin Housley has repeatedly supported health care plans that would not protect people with pre-existing conditions.

Here are three times when Housley would have gutted protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

1. Housley supported the 2017 Republican Health Care Plan (That Would Have Gutted Protections For Pre-Existing Conditions)

Housley supported the Republican health care plan that failed in Congress last year by one vote that would have gutted protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The Republican plan also would have increased people’s health care costs and imposed an age tax which would have allowed insurance companies to charge older Americans up to five times more. Continue reading “Three Times Karin Housley Would Have Gutted Protections For People With Pre-Existing Conditions”

McConnell 3x: All the Ways Republicans Will Cut Health Care, Medicare & Social Security

Repeatedly this week, Mitch McConnell made it very clear what Republicans plan to do if they pick up seats in the midterm elections. They will cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and gut the Affordable Care Act.

  1. McConnell said Republicans’ plan for addressing the skyrocketing budget deficit would be to go after Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Washington Post: “In an interview with Bloomberg News on Tuesday, McConnell (R-Ky.) called the nation’s growing deficit and debt ‘very disturbing’ and argued that it’s being driven by Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.” Continue reading “McConnell 3x: All the Ways Republicans Will Cut Health Care, Medicare & Social Security”

Health Care Top Issue & Those Voters Trust Democrats Over Republicans By 24 Points

There are 19 days until the midterm elections, and according to a new poll, voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on health care by a 24-point margin. It’s clear why: Republicans are trying to take away protections for people with pre-existing conditions and want to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act again.

Health care is the top issue, and voters prefer Democrats to handle it.

  • 58 percent of voters say health care is their top voting issue, and those voters prefer the Democratic candidate by a 24-point margin.

  • A majority of voters disapprove of how Trump is handling health care.

Continue reading “Health Care Top Issue & Those Voters Trust Democrats Over Republicans By 24 Points”

McConnell Says Republicans Might Revisit ACA Repeal

Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Health care is the top issue in the midterm elections, and voters overwhelmingly support the Affordable Care Act. Yet, McConnell joined Trump and Pence in promising that if Republicans pick up seats they could try to repeal the ACA again, which would end vital protections for people with pre-existing conditions and could leave tens of millions more Americans uninsured.

Reuters: McConnell says Senate Republicans might revisit Obamacare repeal

Republicans could try again to repeal Obamacare if they win enough seats in U.S. elections next month, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday, calling a failed 2017 push to repeal the healthcare law a “disappointment.”

In a forecast of 2019 policy goals tempered by uncertainty about who will win the congressional elections, McConnell also blamed costly social programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, for the fast-rising national debt. Continue reading “McConnell Says Republicans Might Revisit ACA Repeal”

Voters consistently rank health care as their top political concern. What does that mean for Minnesota’s House races?

Ask any candidate for Congress in Minnesota this year about health care, and they’re almost certain to tell you it’s one of the most important issues in their districts — if not the single most important issue.

Opinion polling backs that up: a recent CBS News poll found that 70 percent of Americans think health care is a very important issue, a larger share than any other top issue. A similar conclusion has been reached by plenty of other polls conducted over the last few months, which also find that health care is foremost in voters’ minds, even above the economy and headline-grabbing topics like immigration.

Just because seemingly everyone agrees health care should be a top focus, though, doesn’t mean they agree on what parts of the issue to focus on: for the most part, Democratic and Republican candidates are telling voters very different stories when it comes to the politics of health care.

View the complete September 28 article by Sam Brodey on the MinnPost website here.

REAL STORIES: Trump Lies About Protecting Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions

Trump says he is protecting people with pre-existing conditions, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, Trump and Republicans are trying to end the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Republicans are paying the price with voters who overwhelmingly want to keep these vital protections in place.

Trump is lying to the American people about protecting people with  pre-existing conditions. The truth is he wants to get rid of the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Associated Press: “President Donald Trump isn’t playing it straight when it comes to his campaign pledge not to undercut health coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions.”

FactCheck.org: “Trump’s comments contradict the Justice Department’s actions, which Trump approved, according to a June letter from the Justice Department to Congress on this lawsuit.” Continue reading “REAL STORIES: Trump Lies About Protecting Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions”

New Poll: Voters Trust Democrats More Than Republicans On Health Care, By 15 Points

Health care is a top issue for voters and it’s clear why they trust Democrats more than Republicans to better handle the issue: Democrats want to expand access to care while Republicans only want to continue their health care sabotage.

Health care is a top issue for voters. They trust Democrats more than Republicans to better handle health care issues.

  • Voters believe Democrats can better handle health care issues by a 15-point margin.

  • 55 percent of Americans say a congressional candidates positions on health care will be extremely important to their vote.

Continue reading “New Poll: Voters Trust Democrats More Than Republicans On Health Care, By 15 Points”