News

Washington, DC — Coverage from this week’s debates highlights the missed opportunity Democrats had when it came to calling out the biggest ongoing threat facing Americans’ health care: President Trump and Republicans’ lawsuit to destroy health care. And Republican are also failing to take action to lower the costs of prescription drugs and hold drug and insurance companies accountable, an issue poll after poll shows voters want action on. 

“Health care won Democrats the election in 2018 and is the number one issue for voters in every poll about 2020,” said Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach. “Democrats want to lower costs, protect people with pre-existing conditions, expand coverage and stop the relentless GOP war on American health care. President Trump and Republicans want to protect the drug and insurance industries, gut projections for pre-existing conditions and take health insurance away from tens of millions. The differences could not be more important or more obvious.” 

• USA Today Editorial Board: Democrats Should Focus On Trump’s “Tag-Team” Approach To Repealing The ACA. “In 2017, President Donald Trump came within a hair of repealing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Undaunted, he is now pushing a tag-team approach, where his Republican allies in Congress repeal a key part of it, and his allies in robes repeal the rest of it. If Trump were to succeed, and because he has no viable plan to replace Obamacare, tens of millions of Americans would lose their coverage, people with preexisting conditions would become vulnerable and an entire industry would be thrown into disarray.” [USA Today, 8/1/19]
• The New York Times: It Was Easy To Imagine House Democrats Who Campaigned On Health Care “Being Aghast” At The Fact That Not A Single Candidate Mentioned The Texas Lawsuit. “Republicans watching the debate may well have been smiling; the infighting about taking away people’s ability to choose their health care plan and spending too much on a pipe-dream plan played into some of President Trump’s favorite talking points. Mr. Trump is focusing on health proposals that do not involve coverage — lowering drug prices, for example — as his administration sides with the plaintiffs in a court case seeking to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act, putting millions of people’s coverage at risk. It was easy to imagine House Democrats who campaigned on health care, helping their party retake control of the chamber, being aghast at the fact that not a single candidate mentioned the case.” [The New York Times, 7/30/19] 
• Washington Post: Democrats’ ‘missed opportunity’ to talk about drug prices. “’There is such a disconnect between what the polling shows voters want, and where the debate is,’ said Dan Mendelson, founder of Avalere Health, a Washington-based consulting firm. Polls show that the American public wants the government to improve health care more than any other issue. And in one survey late last year by the Harvard School of Public Health and Politico, respondents were asked to choose the aspects of health care they considered extremely important for the government to address. Lowering prescription drug prices was listed by 92 percent of those surveyed — more than any other issue.” [The Washington Post, 8/1/19] 

This morning, the Wall Street Journal revealed the reality of this economy…

WALL STREET JOURNAL – “Families Go Deep in Debt to Stay in the Middle Class”

• “Consumer debt, not counting mortgages, has climbed to $4 trillion—higher than it has ever been even after adjusting for inflation. Mortgage debt slid after the financial crisis a decade ago but is rebounding. Student debt totaled about $1.5 trillion last year, exceeding all other forms of consumer debt except mortgages.”

If Trump and his Republicans get their way to repeal our health care laws or overturn them in court, it will raise our health care costs and make the problem even worse…

• NPR – “Medicaid Expansion Takes A Bite Out Of Medical Debt”
• NEW YORK TIMES – “Obamacare Seems to Be Reducing People’s Medical Debt”
• CONSUMER REPORTS – “How the Affordable Care Act Drove Down Personal Bankruptcy”

“Care Force One” Will Travel to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Santa Fe, Pueblo and Aurora, for Events Highlighting the Health Care Emergency Created By Trump’s Lawsuit and Democrats’ Agenda to Improve Care and Lower Costs

Washington, DC — On the first week of Protect Our Care’s 5,800-mile, 22-event, 13-state nationwide bus tour, “Care Force One” will travel to Las Vegas and continue onward for stops in Phoenix, Tucson, Santa Fe, Pueblo and Aurora. During each stop, elected officials, health care advocates and storytellers will join Protect Our Care to call for an end to the GOP’s continued war on Americans’ health care and highlight the dire emergency created by the Trump-Republican lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Event participants will also discuss the Democratic agenda to lower costs and improve health care. 

The week begins on Monday in Las Vegas, NV:

WHO: U.S. Representative Dina Titus (NV-01)

               Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate 

               Joe Merlino, cancer survivor and health care advocate 

               SEIU (Service Employees International Union)

               PLAN (Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada)

WHAT: “Protect Our Care Nevada Health Care Emergency” Press Conference 

WHERE: SEIU, 2250 S Rancho Dr, Las Vegas, NV

WHEN: Monday, August 5, 2019 at 1:30 PM PDT

 

The week continues Tuesday in Phoenix, AZ:

WHO:  State House Minority Leader Rep. Charlene Fernandez

               Dr. Hiral Tipperninai, ER physician and cancer research advocate

               Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate 

WHAT: “Protect Our Care Arizona Health Care Emergency” Press Conference 

WHERE: Arizona State Capitol Building, Phoenix, AZ

WHEN: Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at 10:00 AM MST

 

On Wednesday, “Care Force One” makes a stop in Tucson, AZ:

WHO:  U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02)

               Dr. Larry DeLuca, University of Arizona College of Medicine

               Genesis Cubillas, Planned Parenthood Director

               Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate

               Jeff Jeans, cancer survivor from Sedona, AZ

               Steve Gomez, father of a son with a pre-existing condition

WHAT: “Protect Our Care Arizona Health Care Emergency” Roundtable 

WHERE: Planned Parenthood, Tucson, AZ 

WHEN: Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at 11:30 AM MST

 

Next up on Thursday, Protect Our Care heads to Santa Fe, NM:

WHO:  Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham

               NM Attorney General Hector Balderas

               Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate

WHAT: “Protect Our Care New Mexico Health Care Emergency” Press Conference 

WHERE: Santa Fe, NM

WHEN: Thursday, August 8, 2019 at 10:00 AM MDT

 

The first week ends with events on Friday in Pueblo, CO:

WHO:   Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate

WHAT: “Protect Our Care Colorado Health Care Emergency” Press Conference 

WHERE: Pueblo, CO

WHEN: Friday, August 9, 2019 at 10:00 AM MDT

 

And in Aurora, CO:

WHO:  U.S. Representative Jason Crow (CO-06)

               Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate

WHAT: “Protect Our Care Colorado Health Care Emergency” Press Conference 

WHERE: Aurora, CO

WHEN: Friday, August 8, 2019 at 2:00 PM (local)

*More speakers to be announced throughout the week

 

The Protect Our Care “Health Care Emergency Tour” Continues In: 

St. Paul, MN on Monday, August 12, 2019

Des Moines, IA on Monday, August 12, 2019

Cedar Rapids, IA on Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Lansing, MI on Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Detroit, MI on Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Youngstown, OH on Thursday, August 15, 2019 

Pittsburgh, PA on Thursday, August 15, 2019

Allentown, PA on Friday, August 16, 2019

Scranton, PA on Friday, August 16, 2019 

Bangor, ME on Monday, August 19, 2019

Portland, ME on Monday, August 19, 2019

Concord, NH on Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Richmond, VA on Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Raleigh, NC on Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Charlotte, NC on Thursday, August 22, 2019

Asheville, NC on Thursday, August 22, 2019

Atlanta, GA on Friday, August 23, 2019

For more information on the Protect Our Care Health Care Emergency Bus Tour visit  https://www.protectourcare.org/bus-tour/ 

On a Press Call, Senator Stabenow, Andy Slavitt and Protect Our Care Highlighted Priorities Heading Into August Recess; Democrats’ Agenda to Lower Drug Prices And Focus on Holding Republicans Accountable For Supporting Trump’s Texas Lawsuit

Washington, DC – Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Health Subcommittee on Finance, former CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt and Protect Our Care held a press call today to highlight Republicans’ refusal to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices and for their failure to denounce Trump’s disastrous Texas lawsuit to overturn America’s health care. On the call, Senator Stabenow made clear the dire situation of the crippling cost of prescription drugs facing the American people, and how Republicans continue to block meaningful legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices. Nearly nine out of ten Americans support requiring Medicare to negotiate for lower drug costs, yet Republicans continue to reject legislation allowing it to do so, all while supporting a lawsuit that would strip millions of Americans of their health care and raise costs across the board. 

Both Andy Slavitt and Brad Woodhouse discussed the health care emergency created by the Trump-Texas lawsuit and why it represents the most clear and present danger to Americans’ health care today. The call also previewed Protect Our Care’s Health Care Emergency Bus Tour, which will be making stops in Michigan as well as 12 other states throughout the month of August to hold Republicans accountable for supporting Trump’s disastrous lawsuit. 

“Americans pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world,” said Senator Stabenow. “If Republicans were serious about lowering these prices, they would have stood up to the drug lobbyists and supported my amendment in the Senate Finance Committee to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices. This is the single most effective thing we can do to lower drug prices for American families today.”

“We must focus much more on the massive theft happening before our eyes as Trump and Republican state Attorneys General collude to rip health care away from millions of Americans,” said former CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt. 

“While Democrats go home this August recess and talk about the actions they’ve taken to lower the cost of prescription drugs and make health care more affordable, Republicans will have to answer for why they continue supporting Trump’s lawsuit and block meaningful progress to lower costs,” said Protect Our Care executive director Brad Woodhouse. “Throughout August, Protect Our Care’s bus tour will travel the country highlighting the health care emergency Trump and his Republican allies have created for the American people with their lawsuit to overturn health care.” 

Listen to audio from the call here

Washington, DC — Today, Senate Democrats led by Senator Mark Warner (VA) held a press conference announcing the introduction of a resolution to invalidate the Trump administration’s “State Relief and Empowerment Guidance,” which allows states to push harmful junk plans and ignore protections for people with pre-existing conditions put in place by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In response, Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:

“The contrast couldn’t be clearer: Senate Democrats are focused on saving vital protections for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions by reversing President Trump’s harmful promotion of junk plans, while Republican Senators want to send us back to the days when insurance companies could write the rules and deny coverage or charge more for people with pre-existing conditions. A vote against this resolution shows once again that Republican Senators who claim to protect people with pre-existing conditions are not telling the truth.”

BACKGROUND

Here is what Trump’s 1332 waivers without appropriate guardrail protections could mean for consumers:

• Protections for people with pre-existing conditions would be essentially meaningless. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said allowing states to waive essential health benefits “could render those protections meaningless” for people with pre-existing conditions.
• It would be harder for people with pre-existing conditions to get affordable coverage. As Consumers Union stated, allowing states to waive essential health benefits would be “putting meaningful coverage out of reach for many Americans, especially those with chronic and pre existing conditions.”
• You could pay more for the same coverage. 1332 waivers allow states to adjust the amount of premium tax credits and cost sharing consumers receive to help lower their costs. Without the guardrail to ensure coverage is just as affordable, many consumers could end up paying more for the same care. For example, Iowa and Oklahoma are pursuing waivers that change who can be eligible for tax credits and limiting how those tax credits are adjusted. In addition, Oklahoma wants to be able to charge people over 50 five times as much as younger people.
• Insurers would not have to cover essential benefits, like maternity care. Right now, every insurance plan must cover the 10 essential health benefits. Because states could opt out of covering these basic benefits, insurers would likely only offer policies that covered much less than they do now. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that the benefits most likely to no longer be covered would be maternity care, mental health or substance abuse coverage. According to the Brookings Institution, the result would be “that no one in a state’s individual market that waived EHBs would have access to comprehensive coverage. Insurers would likely sell separate policies for benefits not covered in their core plan offerings, but these supplemental policies would be subject to tremendous adverse selection, leading to very high premiums and enrollment almost exclusively by those with pre-existing conditions.” For example, a woman who purchases a separate insurance rider for maternity care would have to pay $17,320 more, according to the Center for American Progress. For states that no longer required substance use disorders or mental health to be covered, coverage for drug dependence treatment could cost an extra $20,450.
• Insurers could reimpose lifetime and annual limits. Allowing states to opt out of the essential health benefits coverage means that insurance companies could once again put lifetime and annual limits on the amount of care you receive. Moreover, as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes, this would even impact people with coverage from their employer: “The ACA’s prohibition on annual and lifetime limits is tied to the definition of Essential Health Benefits. Thus, repeal of Essential Health Benefit standards could make this protection meaningless, putting almost all Americans with private health insurance coverage — not just those with individual or small-group market coverage — at risk.” The Center for American Progress estimates that 20 million people with health coverage through their employer would face lifetime limits on coverage, and 27 million would face annual limits.

Washington, DC — Today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a proposal to potentially allow Americans, after a long regulatory process and action by individual states, to import select prescription drugs from Canada, but fails to include any negotiating power for Medicare. Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement in response:

“If President Trump and Secretary Azar are serious about standing up to the drug companies, they’ll stop blocking plans that let Medicare negotiate for less expensive drug prices. Instead of taking meaningful action to lower drug prices, the GOP is busy blocking Medicare drug negotiations, filling a lawsuit against health care that would raise drug prices, and gladly giving out hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to drug and insurance companies. It’s clear that when it comes to lowering drug prices, Donald Trump is long on rhetoric and empty on results.” 

BACKGROUND

Trump’s Proposals Always Fall Far Short Of His Promises. President Trump promised that he would allow Medicare to use its buying power to negotiate drug prices directly with suppliers, but after meeting with pharmaceutical executives early in 2017, Trump abandoned that pledge, calling it “price fixing” that would hurt “smaller, younger companies.” 

Trump And His Republican Allies Continue To Block Medicare Negotiation For Lower Drug Prices. Even though  86 percent of Americans support allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, Republicans refuse to allow Medicare to negotiate. A 2018 Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Democratic Committee report found that Medicare Part D could save $2.8 billion in a single year if it were allowed to negotiate drug prices. Although it would decrease both federal spending and beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, a policy allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries was recently blocked by Senate Republicans. 

Washington, DC — 54 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law. Since then, both programs have improved the well-being of millions of Americans and saved countless lives in the process. Yet Republicans continue to do everything they can to slash their budgets and kick millions of Americans off their coverage. To mark this important anniversary, Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:

“Medicare and Medicaid are crucial lifelines for millions of Americans, but the programs remain under constant assault by Republicans who want nothing more than to gut or out-right end them. From slashing funding for both programs in their budgets, supporting the ongoing Trump-Texas lawsuit to eliminate Medicaid expansion entirely and imposing onerous paperwork requirements for Medicaid coverage, Republicans have stopped at nothing to strip health care from millions of Americans. While President Trump and Republicans’ never-ending war on health care rages on, Medicare continues to provide quality care for American seniors and Medicaid expansion proves to be an unmitigated success that saves the lives of children, families and people with disabilities every single day.”

BACKGROUND

HERE ARE SOME OF THE WAYS REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED TO UNDERMINE MEDICARE:

• Trump’s 2020 budget proposal would cut more than $800 billion from Medicare over a decade. Despite repeatedly promising not to cut Medicare, President Trump’s budget would cut roughly 10 percent of Medicare’s funding over the next ten years to help pay for tax cuts to insurance and big drug companies.
• Trump and his Republican allies support a lawsuit that would overturn the entire ACA and re-open the “donut” hole, forcing seniors to pay more for prescription drugs. If the Republican lawsuit is successful, seniors will have to pay more for prescription drugs because the Medicare “donut” hole got reopened. From 2010 to 2016, “More than 11.8 million Medicare beneficiaries have received discounts over $26.8 billion on prescription drugs – an average of $2,272 per beneficiary,” according to a January 2017 Centers on Medicare and Medicaid Services report.
• As the cost of drugs skyrocket, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress will not allow Medicare to negotiate for better prescription drug prices. Under current law, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is explicitly prohibited from negotiating directly with drug manufacturers on behalf of Medicare Part D enrollees. Although it would decrease both federal spending and beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, a policy allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries was recently blocked by Senate Republicans.

 

WHO GETS HURT FROM THE GOP WAR ON MEDICAID?

• Children & Families. Roughly 34.9 million children in the United States are enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Nationally, nearly 2 in 5, or 39% of children in America have health insurance through Medicaid, as do 17 Percent of parents. 49 percent of births are covered by Medicaid.
• Seniors. More than 6.9 million American seniors have Medicaid coverage. More than 8.5 million Americans ages 50 to 64 have health coverage through Medicaid. Medicaid covers 6 in 10 nursing home residents. 
• People with disabilities. Nearly 8.7 million adults enrolled in Medicaid have a disability. Of this group, only 43 percent qualify for social security income. More than 1 in 3 adults under age 65 enrolled in Medicaid lives with at least one disability. Medicaid covers 45 percent of nonelderly adults with disabilities, including adults with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and mental illness.
• People in rural areas. The ACA has expanded access to health care to nearly 1.7 million rural Americans who have gained coverage through the Medicaid expansion, not only playing a central role in improving rural communities’ health, but also supporting these communities’ economic well-being. Medicaid covers nearly 24 percent of rural Americans, 45 percent of rural children, 15 percent of rural seniors, and pays for 51 percent of rural births. The uninsured rate in rural areas in states that expanded Medicaid has dropped by a median of 44 percent since expansion. 

 

 

 

 

Washington, DC — In advance of the second Democratic debate in Detroit, Protect Our Care executive director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement about the real political choice voters face when it comes to their health care:

“In Detroit, Democrats will continue to discuss their ideas to lower health care costs and protect coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions, a direct contrast to Republicans who are actively trying to rip away coverage from millions of Americans. While Democrats are discussing ways to improve American health care, Republicans have tripled down on a lawsuit that would overturn our health care: eliminating protections for people with pre-existing conditions while raising premiums and prescription drug costs. No matter how rigorous the debate is on our side, voters know that the real choice on health care is between Democrats who want to improve it and Republicans who want to blow it up.”

“Senator Cornyn should immediately apologize to these families for trying to deceive them”

Washington, DC — In the latest outlandish lie to cover up their health care repeal and lawsuit, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) blatantly fabricated an utterly false defense of the Republican opposition to protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Every reputable source has made clear that Republicans’ health care repeal agenda and their lawsuit to overturn health care would gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement in response: 

“This outrageous lie about pre-existing conditions is an insult to everyone with a pre-existing condition or a family member with asthma, diabetes, cancer or other diseases. Republicans in Washington like Senator Cornyn have voted repeatedly to repeal protections for pre-existing conditions, and the Trump administration is currently in court to do what they failed to do in Congress. Every one of the bills that Republicans say protected people, did not. Senator Cornyn knows the truth and so do the American people.

“Senator Cornyn should immediately apologize to these families for trying to deceive them. No one facing a serious or chronic illness should be lied to by their public officials. They deserve better.” 

THE LIE:

THE FACTS:

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: KEY STAKEHOLDERS OPPOSE REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO OVERTURN PRE-EXISTING CONDITION PROTECTIONS

American Cancer Society And Other Leading Patient Groups: Striking Down ACA Provisions Would Be “Catastrophic And Have Dire Consequences For Many Patients With Serious Illnesses.” “If either the plaintiffs’ or the administration’s position were adopted by the court, people with serious illness are likely to be denied coverage due to their preexisting conditions or charged such high premiums because of their health status that they will be unable to afford any coverage that may be offered. Without access to comprehensive coverage, patients will be forced to delay, skip, or forego care. Striking down these provisions would be catastrophic and have dire consequences for many patients with serious illnesses.” [American Cancer Society et. al, 6/14/18]

American Medical Association And Other Key Health Care Groups: “​Invalidating The Guaranteed-Issue And Community Rating Provisions—Or The ​Entire A​CA—Would Have A Devastating Impact On Doctors, Patients, And The American Health Care System As A Whole.” “The ACA’s ‘nationwide protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions’ has played a ‘key role’ in allowing 3.6 million people to obtain affordable health insurance. Severing those vital insurance reforms would leave millions without much-needed insurance.” [AMA et. al, 6/14/18]

33 Leading Cancer Organizations Spoke Out Against GOP Repeal Bills: “The Senate’s BCRA, Just As The House’s AHCA, Is A Direct Threat To America’s 16 Million Cancer Patients And Survivors Who Rely On Timely And Uninterrupted Access To Comprehensive And Affordable Health Care.” “‘The Senate’s BCRA, just as the House’s AHCA, is a direct threat to America’s 16 million cancer patients and survivors who rely on timely and uninterrupted access to comprehensive and affordable health care,’ said NCCS CEO Shelley Fuld Nasso.” [NCSS, 7/13/17]