It didn’t take long for Rep. Jason Lewis to go to Washington, D.C., and become the ultimate insider politician. While Lewis spent the better part of his first term voting to raise healthcare premiums and gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions, he’s now caught again in a bald-faced lie about his own record:
“Here are the facts: Congressman Lewis voted to allow insurance companies to gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions, including 304,100 in his district. Lewis is the most unabashed supporter of his healthcare vote, and was front and center to celebrate in the White House Rose Garden. Lewis trying to re-write his record now proves how vulnerable he is heading into November,” – DCCC spokesperson Rachel Irwin.
RHETORIC: After being called out for his healthcare record, Lewis responded to the Star Tribune with a letter saying “No, I would not ‘gut’ protections for pre-existing conditions.”
REALITY: In 2017, Lewis voted for the AHCA, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and Politifact confirmed would weaken protections for those with pre-existing conditions, including making health insurance unaffordable for older Americans and jack up premiums. Lewis has also failed to stand up to Trump’s Administration’s ongoing efforts to dismantle pre-existing conditions protections.
See below for our fact check from Jason Lewis’s town halls in May, when he blatantly misled his constituents on his healthcare record:
LEWIS CLAIM #1: “The American Health Care Act, which we tried to pass, kept pre-existing conditions covered.” [Jason Lewis Town Hall, 5/19/18 (13:48)]
FACT: Jason Lewis’s AHCA would gut protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
Politifact Found That AHCA “Would Weaken Protections” For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions, “Would Allow States To Give Insurers The Power To Charge People Significantly More.” “An ad by the American Action Network says that under the American Health Care Act ‘people with pre-existing conditions are protected.’ The only kernel of truth here is that the amendment has language that states insurers can’t limit access to coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions. However, the ad omits that the House GOP health plan would weaken protections for these patients. The legislation would allow states to give insurers the power to charge people significantly more if they had a pre-existing condition. While Republicans point to the fact that those patients could get help through high-risk pools, experts question their effectiveness. Current law does not allow states to charge people with pre-existing conditions significantly more. We rate this claim Mostly False.” [Politifact, 5/24/17]
Washington Post: CBO Found That People With Pre-Existing Condition Would Be Far From “Protected” By AHCA. “The CBO found that while insurers could not deny coverage to sick Americans, they would be far from being ‘protected.’ In states that choose to waive certain insurance coverage mandates as allowed under the GOP bill, the report stated, ‘people who are less healthy (including those with preexisting or newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive nongroup health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all.’ […] The analysis undermines not only the claims made by GOP leaders, but also shows that their bill could, by undoing what is perhaps the Affordable Care Act’s single most popular provision, throw consumers back into insurance markets where their ability to purchase affordable insurance would depend on their health.” [Washington Post, 5/26/17]
LEWIS CLAIM #2: The Affordable Care Act is “totally dysfunctional” and “why these premiums keep going up.” [Jason Lewis Town Hall, 5/19/18 (13:30)]
FACT: Lewis voted for the Republican tax bill that sabotaged the ACA, causing premiums to go up around the country.
HEADLINE: Republican Tax Plan Will Make Health Insurance More Expensive [Newsweek, 12/18/17]
GOP Tax Bill Would Cause Health Insurance Premiums To Rise, And Could Lead Insurers To Drop Out Of Regional Markets. “The final GOP plan will repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance mandate, which would allow young and healthy people to leave the insurance pool, forcing insurers to compensate by raising prices due to the higher costs of insuring only less-healthy people. Not only would premiums likely rise, but many insurers could drop out of regional markets.” [Newsweek, 12/18/17]
Analysis Found Repealing Individual Mandate Would Increase Premiums By Almost $2,000 Per Family In 2019, And Cause 13 Million People Nationally To Become Uninsured. “Senate Republicans’ proposed tax reform bill would increase Obamacare prices by an average of almost $2,000 per family in 2019, according to an analysis released Thursday. And the tax bill would lead to 1.8 million more people lacking health insurance in California than currently, another 1 million people becoming uninsured in Texas, and more than 800,000 newly uninsured in New York and Florida each, the report said. Cumulatively, 13 million more people nationally would become uninsured.” [CNBC, 11/16/16]
LEWIS CLAIM #3: AHCA increased Medicaid spending “every single year for the next decade.” [Jason Lewis Town Hall, 5/19/18 (35:50)]
FACT: Jason Lewis’s AHCA would cut Medicaid.
AHCA Would Have Cut $880 Billion From Medicaid Over 10 Years. “Some of the gains for the most well off will come at the expense of the vulnerable. Health insurers will be allowed to once again increase premiums on older customers who are more likely to require medical services. Over the next 10 years, $880 billion in federal funding for Medicaid would be cut.” [New York Times, 3/15/17]
Study Found That More Than 120,000 Minnesotans Would Have Lost Health Care Coverage Due To AHCA Medicaid Cuts. [Center for American Progress, 5/25/17]
Politifact Rated The Claim That GOP Bill Doesn’t Cut Medicaid “Mostly False.” “Conway said that Republicans are not cutting the Medicaid program. The Republican health care proposals would slow the rate at which Medicaid spending increases, but spending would still increase. However, the proposals include policy changes that will leave fewer people eligible for Medicaid. That’s a cut. Conway’s claim has an element of truth but leaves out critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate the claim Mostly False.” [Politifact, 6/26/17]