New poll released ahead of Protect Our Care’s “Care Force One” Bus Tour Rolling Into Fargo and Bismarck
Six in 10 Voters Disapprove Of Cramer’s Vote to Repeal Health Care and Revive Age Tax
Sixty Percent of Voters Oppose Trump Administration’s Lawsuit To Gut Pre-existing Conditions Protections and Cramer’s Support for Health Repeal
Washington DC — Ahead of the ‘Care Force One’ bus tour stops on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 in Fargo and Bismarck, a new poll by Change Research for Protect Our Care shows sixty percent of voters strongly oppose the Trump-GOP lawsuit to eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions and fifty-two percent say health care is very important to them in the midterms. This poll shows danger ahead for Kevin Cramer, who has voted repeatedly to repeal health care for North Dakotans and served as one of the biggest cheerleaders of the Trump Administration’s lawsuit to end protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care issued the following statement upon the poll’s findings:
“Kevin Cramer thinks he can hide his shameful record on health care from the public, but he can’t: From his support of the Trump-GOP lawsuit that would eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions to ads that flat-out lie about his record, Cramer has done absolutely nothing to help North Dakotans have quality and affordable health care — and worse, he’s taken many steps to harm them. For years, Cramer has voted to repeal our care and give insurance companies the power to deny or drop coverage, or charge more because of a pre-existing condition or a person’s age. By putting big insurance companies ahead of working North Dakota families, Kevin Cramer has not earned a promotion to the Senate.”
Key Findings from the Protect Our Care-Change Research survey of North Dakota Voters:
- Sixty percent of voters oppose the Trump Administration’s lawsuit to eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions, while only twenty-nine percent support
- Fifty-two percent of voters say health care is very important when deciding their vote for the U.S. Senate
- Sixty-one percent of voters have a major concern with Cramer’s vote to repeal the ACA and allow insurance companies to charge an age tax for people 50 and older.
- Fifty-three percent of voters have a major concern with Cramer’s vote to repeal the ACA and undermine protections for people with pre-existing condition
This poll surveyed 967 registered voters online in North Dakota on October 3, 2018 using Change Research’s bias correct engine. The margin of error is +/- 3.15% and the post-stratification was done on age, gender, ethnicity, and 2016 presidential vote.
Health Care Repeal in North Dakota would mean the elimination of:
- Protections for 316,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions
- Improvements to Medicare, including reduced costs for prescription drugs
- Allowing kids to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26
- Ban on annual and lifetime limits
- Ban on insurance discrimination against women
- Medicaid expansion currently covering 21,400 North Dakotans
- Marketplace tax credits and coverage for up to 20,000 North Dakotans.
Kevin Cramer Repeatedly Voted to Eliminate Repeal Health Care Protections for People Over Age 50 and People with Pre-existing Conditions
2013: Cramer Voted For A Total Repeal Of The ACA. Cramer voted for HR 45, an act “to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.” [HR 45, Roll Call Vote #154, 5/16/13]
2015: Cramer Voted For A Total Repeal Of The ACA. Cramer voted for HR 596, an act “to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.” The bill also ordered House committees to develop a replacement that would “provide people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable health coverage,” but provided no specifics. [HR 596, Roll Call Vote #58, 2/3/15]
- Cramer Said The Bill Would “Repeal The Affordable Care Act In Its Entirety.” “Today Congressman Kevin Cramer voted with the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.” [Cramer Website, 2/3/15]
2017: Cramer Voted For AHCA. Cramer voted for passage of the American Health Care Act. [HR 1628, Roll Call Vote #256, 5/4/17]
Cramer supports the Trump Administration’s lawsuit to roll back coverage for people with pre-existing conditions
Kevin Cramer vigorously supports the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back coverage for people with pre-existing conditions via a lawsuit that would eliminate the protections for pre-existing conditions that exist in the ACA.
Cramer is now doubling down on his support for the AHCA last year, a bill which would have allowed insurance companies to go back to charging people with pre-existing conditions “prohibitively high premiums.”
Cramer’s support for these measures puts the health of the 316,000 North Dakotans living with a pre-existing condition at risk and would take us back to the days when insurers routinely denied coverage or charged unaffordable premiums to people with pre-existing conditions, including cancer, asthma and hypertension.