Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) seems anxious for Amy Coney Barrett to get rid of Obamacare and he can’t understand why Democrats are so concerned about it.
Cotton complained on Fox & Friends this morning that the Senate Judiciary Committee was too much like a “Senate Health Committee.” That got an appreciative chuckle from cohost Steve Doocy. Cotton continued, “The Democrats kept talking about Obamacare and pre-existing conditions as if the Supreme Court’s job is to make health care policy. It’s not their job, it’s the job of the Congress and the president.”
Maybe that’s because, as CNN noted Americans don’t want the Affordable Care Act overturned and Barrett has already signaled her willingness to get rid of it. Also, we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
“They want to cover up the continued failures of Obamacare and higher premiums or what the individual mandate did to tax families who couldn’t afford Obamacare. That’s why I worked to have it repealed,” Cotton said proudly.
“We also have a plan to cover pre-existing conditions. I think about the teacher I met in Arkansas this year who had been teaching school and had a pre-existing condition herself and now she’s going to be teaching the virtual class in that school and even her little girl decided to stay home.”
“Of course, we want to provide coverage for her and for every Arkansan. What we don’t want to do is have Obamacare continue to drive up rates for every other Arkansan,” Cotton added.
In 2019, the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that more than 20 million Americans gained health coverage under Obamacare. Also, the uninsured rate has dropped under the ACA, the growth of health care costs has slowed and there has been improved access to care.
Trump and the Republicans, on the other hand, almost certainly have no plan to cover pre-existing conditions, unless it’s via skimpier coverage.
Not surprisingly, Trump’s Fox Friends didn’t say a word to challenge Cotton.
You can watch Cotton lick his chops over destroying millions of Americans' health insurance below, from the October 13, 2020 Fox & Friends.
(Cotton image via screen grab)
