Republicans have launched their latest effort to sabotage the nation’s health care system by denying Hoosiers coverage for their pre-existing conditions, and if it’s anything like the rest of their efforts, Rep. Braun will support them every step of the way.
Last week, the GOP took an extraordinary step to further dismantle the nation’s health care system when the Justice Department announced it would no longer defend the Affordable Care Act from a challenge filed by 20 Republican state attorneys general in February. The challenge would abolish key protections for those with pre-existing conditions that prevent insurance companies from denying them coverage.
The Administration’s attack on pre-existing conditions is the newest and potentially most destructive part of the GOP’s campaign to prevent Americans from receiving quality affordable health care. As they could before passage of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies will be able to deny Americans care for having a wide variety of conditions that are out of their control, including cancer, diabetes, or pregnancy. Allowing insurance companies to discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions will mean that health care for more than 130 million Americans under the age of 65 will be in imminent danger, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
It’s safe to say Congressional Republicans can count on Rep. Braun to support their bid to remove protections for pre-existing conditions – after all, he’s been an ardent supporter of their previous work to dismantle the nation’s health care system. He even vocally praised the disastrous American Health Care Act that House Republicans passed in 2017, which would have allowed insurers to charge prohibitively expensive rates for Americans with pre-existing conditions.
“While the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans stop at nothing to deny Americans access to health care, Rep. Braun is standing at the ready to help them wage their war against the millions of Hoosiers with a pre-existing condition,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Hoosiers already blame the GOP for dismantling the health care system and raising health care bills exponentially. They won’t forget that Rep. Braun has supported Republicans’ efforts to raise rates at every turn and prevent Hoosiers with diabetes or a history of cancer to get the care they need.”
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