WATCH: Tillis Called Vote to Gut Pre-Existing Conditions Protections “Courageous”

One Year Ago Today, Tillis Said Republican Plan to Strip Protections for Pre-Existing Conditions Was “Courageous”

Last Week, Tillis Voted Again to Defend “Junk” Insurance that Could Deny Coverage to North Carolinians with Pre-Existing Conditions

The DSCC released a digital video of Senator Thom Tillis’ statement one year ago, calling the Republican vote to gut coverage protections for pre-existing conditions “courageous.” In an interview with Fox News, Tillis responded to a question about the GOP plan to “significantly reduce protections for people with pre-existing conditions” by calling it “courageous” to do so — even though such policies could threaten coverage for nearly two million North Carolinians with a pre-existing condition.

WATCH:

Chris Wallace: “Senator, the fact is that the ‘repeal and replace’ bill, which Republicans pushed repeatedly, significantly reduced protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”

Senator Tillis: “Well, Chris, that’s actually one of the reasons why I think it was a courageous vote. The first thing we have to do is take out the underpinnings of the Affordable Care Act.” 

Senator Tillis has pushed repeatedly to gut health care protections for North Carolinians, including for pre-existing conditions, maternity care, and allowing kids to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26, and when the Republican Congress failed to do so, Tillis infamously fretted to his GOP colleagues that “donations had fallen off a cliff.”

Tillis, one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country with the lowest approval of any Senator on the ballot in 2020, has said he supports “anything” that takes the health law “off the table,” including the GOP lawsuit that “could deal a death blow to the law.” Just last week he voted again to defend “junk” health plans that can discriminate against North Carolinians with pre-existing conditions.

“Senator Tillis’ toxic record of voting to gut his constituents’ health care protections isn’t courageous — it’s shameful,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “It’s also totally unsurprising. Spineless Senator Tillis is so scared of disappointing President Trump and his wealthy donors that he’ll do anything to keep them in his corner, even if that means voting again and again against the health and wellbeing of nearly two million North Carolinians with pre-existing conditions.”

Read more about why North Carolinians know they can’t trust Senator Tillis to protect their health care:

• 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.”

###