Republican Hypocrisy On Pre-Existing Conditions

With the mid-term elections coming down to the last few weeks, Rethuglicans are desperately misleading voters on their positions on a preeminent issue: covering pre-existing conditions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Voters align with Democrats on health care issues, despite years of Rethug deceit on the ACA which has confused many. Now, having sabotaged as much as the ACA as possible in their reactionary campaign to take health care away from people, Rethugs in contested House races are pretending to suddenly care about protection for pre-existing conditions, which is a centerpiece of the ACA. It's comparable to an arsonist setting fire to a house, and then rushing to put out the fire.

Mother Jones' Rowan Walrath has a good article about this sudden, hypocritical conversion by Rethugs running scared from the voters:

"Obamacare’s protections for people with preexisting conditions are extremely popular. In a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 75 percent of respondents said it’s 'very important' to keep those provisions in place. More than 85 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of Republicans said they felt that way. Sixty percent said they or someone in their home has a preexisting condition. [snip]  

By supporting this key provision of Obamacare while simultaneously trying to repeal the law, [Texas Rethug Rep. Pete] Sessions and other Republicans (including President Donald Trump) seem to want to have their cake and eat it too. In addition to voting to repeal various provisions of the ACA, Sessions is the author of the World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017, which would have repealed the law’s individual mandate and its requirement that large employers offer affordable coverage to full-time employees." (our emphasis)

The Rethug-controlled Senate is also playing deceptive games with health insurance, trying to paper over their previous positions that would strip coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. They passed a bill in August that purportedly prohibits health insurers from excluding people with pre-existing conditions, but it does nothing of the sort. Here's Sarah Lueck with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

"Lueck says the Senate bill would still harm those patients. The proposed legislation would allow insurers to investigate patients’ health histories and exclude coverage for preexisting conditions entirely. 'Support for dismantling these protections in whole or in part is not compatible with support for ‘maintaining coverage for pre-existing conditions,' she wrote in a recent commentary. In short, 'Policymakers can’t have it both ways.'” (our emphasis)

But that won't stop lying Rethug politicians from trying.