The Progress Iowa call took place at nearly the same time as candidate Joe Biden was making a speech on the ACA:
Progress Iowa <press@progressiowa.org>
For Immediate Release: June 25, 2020
Contact: Ivy Beckenholdt, (515) 259-0394
Press Call Audio Available Here
On a press call this morning, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-05), Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI-01), Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, along with Little Lobbyists Executive Director and Co-Founder Elena Hung and Protect Our Care discussed the briefs being filed today in the Supreme Court by the Trump administration and Republican AGs in support of their lawsuit to terminate the ACA. As the elected officials on the call made clear, the briefs being filed will put the Trump and Republican lawsuit to rip health care from 20 million Americans and protections for 135 million with pre-existing conditions on full display in front of the nation’s highest court and during a global pandemic. The briefs are being filed one day after House Democrats introduced legislation to build on the ACA and make healthcare more accessible and affordable.
“Today Americans are going to once again see the Trump plan for health care. Instead of steps to rein in COVID-19 and lower health care costs to families struggling to make ends meet, Trump and Bill Barr are going to publish a blueprint on how to dismantle American health care in the middle of a pandemic,” said Senator Wyden. “The stakes have always been high, but now they are even higher. Americans need to know that this brief sums up what Trump and Republicans think about health care: affordable health care is not a right for everybody.”
“The difference between Democrats’ priorities and those of Republicans could not be more stark, and I thank Protect Our Care for leading a call today on this issue and for their tireless efforts to defend Americans’ health care,” said Leader Hoyer. “As Republicans file briefs in support of their lawsuit to strike down the ACA and its protections for those with pre-existing conditions, Democrats have unveiled legislation to strengthen and enhance the ACA, which I’m proud to bring to the Floor next Monday. Our bill will build on the success of the ACA, which has provided coverage to 20 million more Americans and has brought costs down. President Trump and Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, want to take away protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, raise costs, and impose an age tax on older Americans – in the middle of a pandemic. That is cruel and it will cost lives. As we approach Monday’s vote, I continue to urge Congressional Republicans to join us in protecting and strengthening the law. I hope House Republicans will join us in supporting it, and I call on Senate Republicans to take it up following House passage.”
“Republicans are obsessed with taking away health care from the American people. They’ve been trying to do it for a decade, but this is the first time they’ve tried to do it in the middle of a public health pandemic,” said Congressman Cicilline. “Democrats are voting in the House next Monday to pass Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act to lower health care costs, protect patients with pre-existing conditions, expand Medicaid, and lower prescription drug costs.”
“In the middle of a pandemic, the Trump Administration and Republican party want to destroy the law that currently provides vital protections to people with pre-existing conditions and health care coverage to millions of Americans”, said Little Lobbyists Executive Director and Co-Founder Elena Hung. “They want to repeal the ACA, and they still do not have a replacement plan. This is not a difference in politics and policies. This is a difference in morals and values. Health care is a human right, and our country deserves so much better.”
“There is simply no action that would be more devastating to the ongoing health crisis than if the Trump administration and Republicans overturn the ACA and rip health care away from millions of Americans,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “The briefs being filed today will put the Republican war on health care on full display in front of the American people. The contrast between the efforts of Democrats to expand coverage, lower costs and strengthen protections and the ongoing Republican effort to take it all away in the middle of a pandemic could not be clearer.”
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Here is a reminder from the Des Moines Register via the Iowa Democratic Party website that Joni Ernst is not a friend of the ACA:
DMR Editorial: Senator Ernst Must Oppose GOP Lawsuit to Repeal the ACA
Home/Press Releases/DMR Editorial: Senator Ernst Must Oppose GOP Lawsuit to Repeal the ACA
Ed Board Blasts Iowa GOP for Silently Standing By A Lawsuit Enabled by Senator Ernst that Would Repeal Health Coverage During a Pandemic
In a scathing editorial, the Des Moines Register Editorial Board took Senator Joni Ernst and the Iowa GOP to task for refusing to condemn the GOP’s lawsuit to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act – an effort that would have “disastrous consequences” on Iowa’s health care system and rip away insurance in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic.
The lawsuit, made possible by Senator Ernst’s vote for the 2017 GOP Tax Scam, threatens the very same health coverage and protections that Senator Ernst has spent her career voting to undermine. Yet, 100 days after the Supreme Court announced it would take up the case, Senator Ernst has refused to reveal her position to voters, saying, “I’m not saying whether I support it or not.”
As the editorial makes clear, if the GOP’s lawsuit is successful, Iowans could:
- “Lose the expansion of Medicaid and federal subsidies that help Iowans pay for private insurance.”
- “Lose protections for people with preexisting conditions and coverage for young adults under their parents’ health insurance.”
- Have their “health services and infrastructure” compromised
“Senator Ernst’s silence speaks volumes on her true priorities in Washington. After cashing in over $500,000 in campaign checks from Big Pharma and the insurance industry, Senator Ernst is complicit in her party’s egregious effort to repeal Iowans’ essential health coverage and protections during a pandemic,” said Jeremy Busch, Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson.
Des Moines Register: Editorial: Republicans should withdraw lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act; having health insurance is crucial in a pandemic
June 9, 2020
Key points:
- The Supreme Court is set to hear the case this fall. It was brought by Republican-led states and backed by the Trump administration. The result could be striking down most or all of the health reform law, which would have disastrous consequences for Iowans.
- Along with other Americans, we could lose the expansion of Medicaid and federal subsidies that help Iowans pay for private insurance. We could lose protections for people with preexisting conditions and coverage for young adults under their parents’ health insurance.
- It is not only individual Iowans who would suffer. When people don’t have insurance, health providers and hospitals are not paid to treat them. The ensuing loss of revenue would compromise health services and infrastructure needed by all of us.
- [Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller] supports the ACA and is part of a 20-state coalition of Democrats who want the Supreme Court to uphold it.
- Reynolds, as well as Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, should encourage exactly that.
- For a decade, GOP politicians have challenged the law with votes to repeal it, lawsuits and refusal to make legislative fixes, while never providing a viable alternative.
- The ACA has been implemented in every state. It allows entrepreneurs and early retirees to buy coverage on their own without the help of an employer. That is especially important as millions of Americans have lost their jobs in recent months.
- The ACA is not perfect, but it insures millions of Americans, protects them from insurance company abuses and allows people with preexisting health problems to buy coverage.
- It’s also pretty darn important for Americans to have health care during an infectious disease pandemic.
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