Anti-Obamacare Rep’s Newborn To Be Born With Preexisting Conditions

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There is nothing that compares to having a very ill child and no health care. When the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obama) was made into law, one of the most important aspects of it was to cover patients with pre-existing conditions. Yet, a group of Republicans did everything they could to kill it. Now, one of them has to eat his words.

Candidate Duffy pledged in 2010 to “not vote to repeal the legislation unless a better proposal was in place. Mere months later, the representative voted to completely repeal Obamacare in 2011 with absolutely no replacement, according to ThinkProgress.

Republican Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI) was one of the most virulent opponents of Obamacare. When he announced he was retiring from the House, he said it was due to the upcoming birth of the couple’s daughter. She is sick. He and his wife, Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffer, said their ninth baby will have to have heart surgery after she is born.

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Duffy ran on the promise of protecting insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. He also promised he would not repeal any part of the ACA that did not include a provision of pre-existing conditions. He lied.

Duffy was in Congress for eight years, and during that time he voted time and again to kill Obamacare and also to undermine the protections for pre-existing conditions. He voted for a gutted version of the ACA called Trumpcare in 2017.

Trumpcare would have made the cost of health insurance for pre-existing conditions dramatically higher. Last May he specifically voted against the Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019.

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However, he just changed his opinion about pre-existing conditions. Duffy recently commented that he insured his soon-to-be-born daughter so she would have health insurance coverage in spite of her serious pre-existing condition.

The Duffy’s appeared on Fox News Tuesday to talk about their situation. A member of Congress has a rigorous schedule, and they wanted to be there for their daughter. He pointed out the people in the House do not get a lifetime benefit of health insurance.

Instead, he will sign up for a COBRA plan. The 1985 law provides people the opportunity to remain on their employers’ health insurance for up to 18 months after leaving. The employee must pay for the total cost, however:

‘We pay the full boat for that so we can transition and with the condition of the baby, we have that complete coverage. But, yeah, you are right. I had to look at that and make sure that with, open heart surgery, we had coverage to make sure that, you know, we could pay for that and we have got that worked out. So, thank God, that’s not a consideration as we look to the birth.’ 

Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.

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