ON THIS DAY: Tillis Said “Donations Had Fallen Off a Cliff” After Failed Push to Gut Protections for North Carolinians with Pre-Existing Conditions

Two years ago today, Tillis admitted “donations had fallen off a cliff after the Obamacare flop”

Tillis weaker than ever after second elections expert shifts North Carolina’s Senate race toward Democrats, supports the GOP lawsuit that could gut coverage protections for North Carolinians

Two years ago today, POLITICO reported that vulnerable incumbent Senator Thom Tillis admitted to his Republican colleagues in Washington that “donations had fallen off a cliff” after their unsuccessful efforts to pass a reckless and deeply unpopular agenda that would have sent health care costs soaring and gutted coverage protections for pre-existing conditions.

As the evidence continues to grow that the health care law has “saved lives,” Tillis and Senate Republicans are still working to tear it down. Tillis has called his votes for his party’s efforts to gut protections for North Carolinians with pre-existing conditions “courageous,” and after his tax giveaway to corporate special interests “sparked” a lawsuit that could do away with these protections, Tillis confirmed this summer that he supports the lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and said he supports “anything” that takes the law “off the table.”

“When Senator Tillis complained that Washington Republicans were losing money from wealthy donors because they were unsuccessful in repealing the health care law, he showed just how out of touch his priorities are,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “After years of putting the demands of his donors and special interest backers ahead of the health and well-being of the constituents he’s supposed to serve, Thom Tillis has no credibility on this or any other issue. Senator Tillis’ health care record is toxic with North Carolinians, and voters will hold him accountable and reject his self-serving politics in 2020.”

Read more about why Senator Tillis continues to pay the price for his toxic health care record:

• Charlotte Observer: “With Obamacare on trial, Democrats slam Sen. Thom Tillis over health care”

• Raleigh News & Observer: Democrats call for Sen. Tillis to take stand against ACA lawsuit

• WTVD: Some North Carolinians call on Senator Tillis to take stand against ACA lawsuit

• HuffPost: “experts say Tillis’ bill leaves out several other protections found in the ACA, such as its ban on annual or lifetime limits on benefits, or its provision prohibiting insurers from charging women more than men.”

• HuffPost: “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents facing reelection, introduced one such measure this year, allowing him to say he stands with Trump on Obamacare repeal while maintaining his support for the health care law’s most popular provisions… experts say it would allow insurers to exclude coverage of some preexisting conditions anyway, calling its provisions a ‘mirage.’”

• POLITICO: “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) introduced a bill… forcing insurers to cover patients with pre-existing conditions, but a major loophole would have left patients in jeopardy. Within hours of introducing the bill, Tillis backtracked.”

• Vox: “The 10 GOP sponsors, led by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said the legislation would guarantee protections for people with preexisting medical conditions. But that doesn’t appear to be entirely true”

###