Cornyn Caught Touting Health Care Law He Voted At Least 20 Times to Repeal or Defund

A “Change Of Tune” for One of the Affordable Care Act’s “Most Relentless Opponents”

Senator John Cornyn got caught this week touting the ability to enroll in health coverage through the Affordable Care Act — a “change of tune” for Mitch McConnell’s longtime ally who is among “the ACA’s most relentless opponents” and has proudly spent the last decade voting more than 20 times to tear down the health care law.

Senator Cornyn’s deceptive comments earned the vulnerable Republican incumbent a well-deserved round of blistering headlines for his hypocrisy:

• Corpus Christi Caller Times: Obamacare opponent John Cornyn urges uninsured Texans to sign up for Obamacare
• MSNBC: Texas’ John Cornyn decides ACA access is ‘good news’ after all
• HuffPost: John Cornyn Encourages People To Sign Up For Obamacare After Fighting To Repeal It

Despite his most recent comments, Senator Cornyn has refused to hold the Trump administration accountable for keeping ACA special enrollment closed — making it harder for newly unemployed and uninsured Texans to get health coverage. And in the middle of a deadly global pandemic, Senator Cornyn has refused to oppose the dangerous GOP lawsuit that would wipe out the ACA’s protections, including for pre-existing conditions coverage. Senator Cornyn also noted the ability to sign up for Medicaid — despite repeatedly supporting plans to gut Medicaid funding while his political allies in Texas have refused to expand Medicaid.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

HuffPost: John Cornyn Encourages People To Sign Up For Obamacare After Fighting To Repeal It

By Jennifer Bendery

• After voting more than a dozen times to repeal the Affordable Care Act and leading Senate Republican efforts to dismantle it, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Monday that the “good news” is that people can sign up for President Barack Obama’s signature health care law if they’ve lost their jobs and need health insurance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

• It’s quite a change of tune for Cornyn, who voted to repeal or defund the ACA (or to move forward with bills to do so) here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

• Cornyn’s job was to secure the votes to repeal the ACA in 2017 when he was the Senate GOP Whip, the third-highest-ranking Republican. He spoke confidently for months about having the votes to do it. But the bill ultimately failed at the hands of Senate Democrats and three Republicans.

MSNBC: Texas’ John Cornyn decides ACA access is ‘good news’ after all

By Steve Benen

• Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) sat down for an interview yesterday with PBS Austin’s Judy Maggio, who raised concerns about “holes in the safety nets” affecting many Texans. Specifically, the host noted that as more people lose their jobs during the pandemic, they’re also losing their health security. Maggio asked the Senate Republican about possible federal efforts for those who are now “wondering what they’re going to do for health insurance.”

• Cornyn’s response was … unexpected.

• But there’s an important disconnect between the message and the messenger.

• Over the last decade, Cornyn has been among the ACA’s most relentless opponents. The Texas Democratic Party yesterday put together a list of instances in which Cornyn voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and the list wasn’t at all short.

• In 2017, as the Republican effort to destroy the nation’s existing health care system reached its peak, there were a variety of relevant players, but Politico labeled Cornyn “Obamacare repeal’s top salesman.”

• And yet, here we are, watching the GOP senator — did I mention that Cornyn is up for re-election this year? — direct his constituents to the Affordable Care Act as a worthwhile lifeline for families in need of health security.

• The Texas Republican’s message, in effect, was, “The good news is, I failed in my efforts to tear down the ACA, so people can still take advantage of the law I fought to destroy.”

Corpus Christi Caller Times: Obamacare opponent John Cornyn urges uninsured Texans to sign up for Obamacare

By John C Moritz

• Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says he is definitely not an election-year convert to Obamacare.

• The question surfaced this week when Texas’ senior senator told a TV interviewer that people who find themselves uninsured because of the coronavirus-related economic slowdown that the signature achievement of the Democratic former president would be an option.

• A study released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 1.6 million Texans have lost employer-provided health coverage since on the onset of coronavirus. The study does not quantify how many have found alternative coverage plans.

• Texas is leading a multistate court effort to repeal the act that provides coverage for about 8.3 million Americans. Texas, which has about 1.12 million Obamacare enrollees, was among only a few states that saw an increase in sign-ups for 2020.

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