IN THE BATTLEGROUNDS: Democrats “Hammering” Trump’s Health Care Lawsuit

As the Trump administration began oral arguments in their health care lawsuit that could spike costs and make protections for preexisting conditions unconstitutional, Democrats joined with local advocates and leaders to call out Trump’s toxic health care agenda and condemn his record of broken promises.

 

See for yourself:

 

(AZ) The Arizona Republic: Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee chairman, warned Tuesday that popular features of the Affordable Care Act could be swept away by the courts and turned to Arizona examples to argue the harmful effect […] “We’re here today because one of your senators, Sen. McSally, is complicit in this effort to undermine access to health care for so many people,” Perez said. “Trump and the Republicans are trying to do in court what they failed to do in Congress: repeal our entire health care law.”

 

(AZ) 3TV/CBS 5: The chairman’s visit to Phoenix came as the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard a challenge, backed by the Trump administration, to the Affordable Care Act.

 

(AZ) KJZZ: Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez spoke in the Valley today to rally support for the Affordable Care Act. He was joined by two Arizona representatives, an ER doctor and the father of a son with pre-existing conditions.

 

(CO) Westword: “Senator Gardner remains in lockstep with Trump’s reckless health care agenda,” said Alyssa Roberts, spokeswoman for the Colorado Democratic Party, in a statement. “This time, they’re trying a lawsuit that would drive up costs, eliminate coverage protections, and rip health coverage away from millions.”

 

(CO) FOX 31: Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is part of a coalition of Democratic attorneys general attempting to defend the law. “For me, this case is about two things: the rule of law and protecting people who have insurance,”  Weiser said.

 

(FL) Florida Politics: Florida Democrats are hammering away at President Donald Trump as a federal appeals court readies to consider a lawsuit that could invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) […] “This lawsuit would raise out-of-pocket costs for premiums and for prescription drugs,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said.

 

(MI) Michigan Advance: Several Democratic state lawmakers slammed efforts to kill the ACA, including state Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Twp.). “This lawsuit by the Trump administration is a shameless attempt to rip health care away from hardworking Americans,” he said.

 

(MI) WLUC: “We should be thinking about what we need to do to improve the Affordable Care Act while celebrating what actually works, what we’re seeing from the Trump administration is ‘let’s just throw everything out and just trust us we’re going to come up with something’ and yet we have not seen any ideas from the Trump administration as to how they would replace the Affordable Care Act,” Peters said.

 

(MI) MLive: “I’m a two-time cancer survivor and father of two kids with Crohn’s disease. The Trump Administration’s relentless assault on people with pre-existing conditions makes me mad as hell,” said U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township.

 

(NV) Reno Gazette Journal, Sen. Rosen: By instructing our own Department of Justice to circumvent Congress in an attempt to take away Americans’ health coverage and protections, this administration has reached a new low. This callous decision is putting the health, life and care of too many Nevadans in jeopardy.

 

(NV) Reno Gazette Journal, Aaron Ford: “One of the first actions that I took as attorney general was to join many lawsuits to protect the Affordable Care Act. If President Trump isn’t going to protect our laws and our health care, state attorneys general will step up to the plate.”

 

(NV) Las Vegas Review-Journal: “But I know one thing’s for certain, that attacking and dismantling the Affordable Care Act is not going to improve health care,” [Rep. Susie] Lee said. “It’s going to make things worse. It will destabilize our individual market, send premiums skyrocketing, dismantle protections for those with pre-existing conditions and cut off access to health care for millions of Americans.”

 

(NH) WMUR: New Hampshire’s Democratic congressional delegation warned that a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Affordable Care Act could have devastating effects for thousands of Granite Staters […] “If the Trump administration gets its way in this partisan lawsuit, it would raise health care costs, rip away critical protections for patients with preexisting conditions and leave millions of Americans uninsured,” said U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan.

 

(NH) NHPR: “Finally we’re getting the care that we need; finally we’re turning lives around. All of that would be lost,” warned Congresswoman Annie Kuster.

 

(NH) Union Leader: Members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation lobbied for public support of the Affordable Care Act on Monday, the day before opening arguments in a federal lawsuit that could dissolve the national health care plan.

 

(OH) WTOV 09: Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper says the case has high stakes for the healthcare industry, and everyone who gained insurance through Obamacare. “This has a major healthcare impact in the state,” Pepper said.

 

(OH) WHIZ: “That would mean five million Ohioans with preexisting conditions, five million would lose their coverage. It means that about half a million Ohioans who have benefited from the Medicaid expansion which was bipartisan, that coverage would be gone. It puts at risk, 1 in 4 rural Ohio hospitals around the state,” said Pepper.

 

(OH) WTRF: Democratic officials say that if The Trump administration is to overturn the health care law, it could result in: Nearly five million Ohioans with pre-existing conditions losing protections.

 

(OH) Toledo Blade: “For the Republican Party to be trying to take the rug out of the Affordable Care Act, which is a lifeline to millions of people, is just so morally wrong. Forget the politics. Put that aside for a second. We have to have insurance that covers all of the American people for their healthcare,” U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) said.

 

(OH) Herald-Star: “It would be devastating to Ohio, to Ohioans’ health care, to jobs in Ohio,” Pepper said. “Almost 5 million people in Ohio with pre-existing conditions would no longer be covered.”

 

(PA) Trib Live: U.S. Sen. Bob Casey joined Democrats at state and federal levels this week in calling on Republican lawmakers to take a stance on the lawsuit and its potential ramifications. He criticized the Trump administration for refusing to defend the health care law. “There’s no backup plan, there’s no Republican replacement plan,” Casey, D-Scranton, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday morning. “This is totally irresponsible … They don’t seem to give a damn if this coverage is ripped away.”

 

(PA) Capital-Star: “This is an effort by a corporate White House to do in the courts what they couldn’t do in the halls of Congress,” Casey, D-Pa., said in a conference call with home state reporters, adding that Republicans in Congress who back the litigation are “supporting an obnoxious lawsuit,” that “only a right-wing extremist could love.”

(PA) Bucks County Courier Times: “These continued attacks on the Affordable Care Act create great fear and anxiety among Pennsylvanians,” Kraus said, before introducing two state residents who each used the word “terrified” to describe how they were feeling about the case.

 

(WI) Wisconsin Radio Network: Senator Tammy Baldwin says this is just more indication that President Trump doesn’t care about the healthcare for average Americans. “He’s in court right now, trying to take people’s private health insurance away. And it would impact millions of Americans.”

(WI) WSAW:  “President Trump has spent the last two years plus, sabotaging our health care system,” Baldwin said, sharing stories of people impacted by the ACA. “These constituents are frightened.”