Republican activists applaud Mike Braun for pre-existing conditions pledge

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WESTFIELD, Ind. — Republican Senate nominee Mike Braun said Tuesday that insurance companies should be forced to cover pre-existing medical conditions, remarks that sparked applause from GOP activists.

Braun was responding to a question from a friendly crowd in Hamilton County, a suburban Republican stronghold north of Indianapolis. That the question was posed, and the group’s reaction, revealed the extent to which voter attitudes on healthcare have shifted in America — even among Republicans who opposed, and still favor repealing, Obamacare.

“Definitely; yes. Nobody should go broke because they get sick or have a bad accident,” Braun said, when asked if health plans should cover pre-existing conditions.

Lynda Pitz, 55, a supporter of President Trump who took time out of her schedule running a nanny agency to hear Braun speak, gave the former state legislator’s comments a big thumbs up. “I have a friend who was in a horrible car accident — she did nothing wrong.”

Enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which guaranteed coverage of pre-existing conditions and outlawed lifetime caps on insurance payouts, was so unpopular during former President Barack Obama’s tenure that it contributed to two midterm election blowouts that swept the Democrats from power in Congress.

But support for Obamacare has improved since Trump took office, amid the Republicans’ failed attempts to pass legislation repealing it. Ironically, Democrats are convinced the issue will finally pay dividends in this year’s midterm elections.

The Trump administration is taking legal action to dismantle parts of the healthcare law that Democrats claim would jeopardize pre-existing conditions protections. Party strategists view the issue as a key advantage in the fall, especially in red states such as Indiana, where incumbents such as Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly are vulnerable.

“Believe it or not — this is hard to believe, it’s just really hard to believe — the Department of Justice, our own Department of Justice, has joined a lawsuit to take away coverage for pre-existing conditions,” Donnelly said this week to a group of Democratic activists in Southern Indiana. “The whole purpose of the Affordable Care Act was to that every American would have a chance to be covered.”

Braun owns and operates a major automobile parts distributor that offers health benefits to its 900 employees. Braun said the firm was able to lower the amount of money employees contribute to their insurance plans after passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Republicans’ $1.3 trillion tax overhaul that included a significant reduction in the corporate rate.

As he discussed healthcare policy to the two-dozen activists who gathered at the Hamilton County GOP headquarters in Westfield, Braun warned that the Democrats would try use the issue for political gain. He told them not to be fooled.

“They think, that in wanting to get rid of Obamacare, that that’s the way we think,” Braun said, referring to Democratic claims that Republicans support removing pre-existing conditions protections. “That’s not the way I think and I think most of us know that we are concerned, when you make those promises, how do you pay for it?”

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