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New Ad: Wisconsin mom of child with pre-existing condition asks what would happen if Leah Vukmir lets insurance companies deny coverage
“I’m outraged that Leah Vukmir again sided with insurance companies instead of Wisconsin families like ours.”
SEYMOUR — In a new ad from Tammy Baldwin for Senate, a Wisconsin mom of a child born with heart defects asks what would happen if Leah Vukmir let insurance companies deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
“My daughter Zoe has a pre-existing condition and I’m outraged that Leah Vukmir again sided with insurance companies instead of Wisconsin families like ours,” said Chelsey Schaumberg of Seymour. “Leah Vukmir’s plan is to take away my daughter’s health care protections and throw her into a high-risk pool, which have lifetime caps and sky-high costs. I think my daughter deserves better than that, and I’m glad Tammy Baldwin is out there standing up to the insurance companies and fighting for affordable health care for us.”
Leah Vukmir has campaigned on repealing the Affordable Care Act and gutting pre-existing condition protections, while Tammy Baldwin is leading the fight to protect coverage for Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions.
Leah Vukmir’s record of putting insurance companies ahead of Wisconsin families goes beyond repealing their health care. A previous ad, featuring a Wisconsin cancer survivor, highlighted Leah Vukmir’s votes against requiring insurance companies to cover oral chemotherapy. And earlier this week, Wisconsinites from across the state spoke out against Leah Vukmir’s vote against requiring insurance companies to cover hearing aids and cochlear implants for deaf children in Wisconsin.
Read what Chelsey has to say in the newest ad:
“Zoe was born with two heart defects. She’ll always have a preexisting condition. So do two million other Wisconsinites.
“So, I’m outraged that Leah Vukmir wants to let the insurance companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.
“What would happen to Zoe?
“I know it’s Tammy Baldwin who is leading the fight in the U.S. Senate to protect coverage for people with preexisting conditions.
“For our family, the choice is really clear.”
BACKGROUND:
Leah Vukmir supports repealing the Affordable Care Act and gutting pre-existing condition protections:
- Leah Vukmir is campaigning on full repeal: “Leah understands why people are upset with Republicans who promised to repeal Obamacare and didn’t deliver. She supports full repeal of Obamacare. Period. And she won’t stop pushing for full repeal in Congress.”
- Leah Vukmir supports Graham-Cassidy. This plan “would bring preexisting conditions back to the individual market, allowing insurers to charge sick people higher premiums — or deny them coverage outright.”
- Vice President Pence said in Wisconsin that if Leah Vukmir wins, they will try to pass those repeal plans again: “We made an effort to fully repeal and replace Obamacare. And we’ll continue — with Leah Vukmir in the Senate, we’ll continue to go back to that.”
- Leah Vukmir supports the Trump administration’s junk insurance plans, that allow insurance companies to deny customers coverage if they have a pre-existing condition: “Vukmir supports rules recently issued by the Trump administration that aim to chip away at Obamacare by permitting certain types of health plans that don’t meet the law’s requirements.”
Tammy Baldwin is leading the fight to protect coverage for Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions:
- Tammy Baldwin introduced legislation to stop those junk insurance plans:
- AP: “Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who faces a potentially competitive re-election contest in November, will lead the effort to thwart Trump’s short-term health care plans. She said 1 in 4 of her constituents have pre-existing conditions, ‘and they cannot afford to have the health care they depend on threatened.’ The new plans represent one of many Trump administration moves aimed at weakening Obama’s 2010 law, following Congress’ attempt to repeal it last year ended in an embarrassing Senate defeat.”
- Vox: “Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is leading the effort, introducing a resolution to unwind the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term insurance plans. Those plans are not subject to Obamacare’s rules for preexisting conditions or essential health benefits and Democrats dismiss them as “junk.”
- Washington Examiner: “Tammy Baldwin pursues legislation to guarantee pre-existing condition protections. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., announced legislation to block a proposed rule that would expand the duration of short-term plans from 90 days to nearly 12 months.”
- Leah Vukmir has come out against this legislation to protect people with pre-existing conditions. Instead, Vukmir wants to throw people back into high risk pools, which covered some Wisconsinites, but were also “too expensive for many to afford, left more than half a million state residents uninsured, included a six-month waiting period for coverage of pre-existing conditions and imposed a lifetime coverage cap..”
Watch the previous Tammy Baldwin for Senate ads here: “Roddy,” “Skyrocketing,” “Predator,” “Cheesy,” “Knock,” “Stories,” “Fierce,” “They Call It,” “Who’ll Stand Up,” “Shadowy,” “Really,” “Map Made” and “Ashamed.”
