GOP congressman praises Trump for making families pay more for health care

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) recently endorsed Trump’s policies across the board, but the residents of Ohio’s 1st Congressional District are looking at massive health insurance costs thanks to Chabot’s rubber stamp.

In an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer, Chabot said he welcomes Trump’s visit to the district on Friday.

“I wouldn’t say things the way he says things,” Chabot told the paper, “but his policies are working.”

But those policies aren’t working for Chabot’s constituents. For example, a recent study showed that Trump’s sabotage of the Affordable Care Act will cost residents of Chabot’s district thousands in additional premiums.

The report analyzed the effect of the Republicans repealing the individual mandate portion of Obamacare — which Chabot voted for — along with other Trump policies, and found that a family of four in Chabot’s district will pay an additional $2,070 in health insurance premiums in 2019.

Chabot has also voted repeatedly to repeal Obamacare, and voted for the failed Trumpcare bill. According to another study by the Center for American Progress, that bill would have stripped health care from more than 35,000 residents of Chabot’s district.

Each one of those votes would also have stripped away protections for people with pre-existing conditions, 306,400 of whom live in Chabot’s district, more than 41 percent of the total population.

Repealing Obamacare outright would have completely removed the law’s protections for pre-existing conditions, while the Trumpcare bill would have allowed insurers to price sick customers out of the market. And Trump’s administration is currently supporting an effort to have these protections declared unconstitutional.

Chabot’s Democratic opponent, Aftab Pureval, supports Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions and promises to “(s)tabilize instead of sabotage the healthcare market to keep premiums from going up.”

Health care is among the most important issues in this election, but there is no reason to believe that Chabot will change his ways. Since Trump took office, Chabot has voted in lockstep with him 96 percent of the time.

Trump’s policies may be “working” for Chabot, but they’re hurting the people in Ohio’s 1st District.