GOP congressman admits he would stop protecting pre-existing conditions

If he returns to Congress, Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) admitted he would vote to completely repeal the Affordable Care Act, including the provisions to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions.

Balderson and Democratic nominee Danny O’Connor recently met for their first and only debate of the general election. During a free-wheeling back-and-forth questioning of each other, O’Connor posed a very simple question to Balderson: Would you vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act?

Balderson gave a one-word answer: Yes.

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into law, it enshrined two critical provisions to protect people with pre-existing conditions. First, insurance companies could not deny coverage to someone with a pre-existing condition (like a cancer survivors or someone with asthma). Second, insurance companies could not charge people with pre-existing conditions more for their health insurance.

If Balderson’s desire to fully repeal the ACA, those protections would disappear as well. Insurance companies would be free to revert to the way things were, where breast cancer survivors and millions of other Americans with pre-existing conditions could be denied health insurance, or charged thousands of dollars per year more for coverage.

Immediately after Balderson admitted this is what he wanted, he panicked and tried to claim he supported protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

O’Connor wasn’t buying it.

“That’s a part of the Affordable Care Act,” O’Connor retorted.

Balderson joins a deceptive group of Republicans who are scrambling to explain their position on health care to voters.

Republicans voted to gut the ACA and replace it with a GOP health care plan that eliminated protections for pre-existing conditions. Now, many are blatantly lying to voters about their position.

“They’re all lying through their teeth,” exclaimed former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough on “Morning Joe.”

An incensed Scarborough continued, reminding viewers that most Republicans across the country “are either suing to make sure that insurance companies don’t have to support pre-existing conditions, or they voted in Congress to make sure that insurance companies don’t have to pay for pre-existing conditions.”

Balderson, a loyal Trump acolyte, admitted he would join with other Republicans in sabotaging America’s health care policy.

O’Connor has made health care the centerpiece of his campaign, promising to improve and strengthen the ACA. He often references his mother, who is a breast cancer survivor, as an inspiration for ensuring everyone has access to quality and affordable health care.

In this toss-up race, the people of Ohio’s 12th Congressional District have a clear choice before them: There’s one candidate who vowed to vote against protections for pre-existing conditions, and one who vowed to protect them.