“The reality is that from now until November, there will be a stark contrast: Republicans are trying to take away people’s health care, and Democrats aren’t.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten and take lives across the country, Washington Republicans still won’t stop trying to rip away healthcare from the American people.
A recent Washington Post opinion piece lays out why Washington Republicans’ attacks on health care will hurt them politically (not to mention, the American people), saying, “This is… not an opportune time for a party to be arguing for tossing 20 million or so people off their health coverage…” and that “the issue is poised to come back onto the agenda, which is just about the last thing vulnerable Republicans want…”
At a time when the American people need relief and amid a health and economic crisis, Washington Republicans have blocked uninsured COVID-19 patients from getting the coverage they need, leaving nearly 28 million Americans in 38 states uninsured.
Statement from DCCC Spokesperson, Fabiola Rodriguez:
“House Democrats have stepped up where their Republican colleagues and the Trump Administration will not. While they stop at nothing to fight for economic relief and the health and safety of their communities, Washington Republicans will not stop trying to strip health care from American families – even amid a global pandemic. It’s more clear than ever that Washington Republicans’ are hellbent on gutting protections for American’s with pre-existing conditions. That reckless obsession will cost them more seats come November.”
Washington Post: A political disaster is looming for Republicans on health care
KEY POINTS:
- Lately most Americans have been far too consumed with the pandemic and the recession to think about reform that might or might happen in the future — which is just fine with Republicans. But they won’t be able to keep the issue out of people’s minds for long. Two things will put it back on the agenda. First, as we approach November, Democrats all over the country will be airing ads and sending out mailers about health care, most of which will focus not on the nuances of reform but on the villainy of the GOP.
- And second, the issue could come back to the Supreme Court just before the election, casting a new light on the destruction Republicans are trying to bring down on the American health-care system.
- This is, to put mildly, not an opportune time for a party to be arguing for tossing 20 million or so people off their health coverage, eliminating protections for preexisting conditions, and throwing the entire health-care system into chaos.
- As the New York Times reports, the issue is poised to come back onto the agenda, which is just about the last thing vulnerable Republicans want…
- Back in May, Attorney General William Barr, showing a brief flash of political pragmatism, advised the president that the administration might want to modify its support for the lawsuit, brought by a group of Republican states, that seeks to have the ACA torn out root and branch. President Trump said no, insisting that full repeal must be the administration’s position.
- That lawsuit will be heard by the Supreme Court sometime in the fall. Although the decision probably won’t come until next year, shortly before the election we could have dramatic oral arguments in which Republicans publicly defend their plan to eviscerate the health-care system and throw millions off their coverage, while Democrats argue for maintaining the somewhat shaky protections Americans now enjoy.
- And now, the pandemic has underscored how vulnerable so many Americans are. In May, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that 27 million Americans could lose employer-based coverage as a consequence of the pandemic and the suspension of economic activity; while many were able to scramble to find alternative coverage, anxiety around health care is as high as it has ever been.
- The reality is that from now until November, there will be a stark contrast: Republicans are trying to take away people’s health care, and Democrats aren’t. The president may spit up the occasional hairball of an attack about how Democrats are trying to create “socialism,” but he can’t divert attention from that simple binary.
- It might have been different if Trump had told his allies to drop the lawsuit, or even come up with an alternative for reform. But it’s clear that he and his party were never going to be capable of doing something constructive on health care. And now they’re going to pay the price.
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