Republicans now running ads on pre-existing conditions
For months, Democratic candidates have been running hard on health care, while Republicans have said little about it. In a sign of the issue’s potency, Republicans are now playing defense, releasing a wave of ads promising they will preserve protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions.
The ads omit the fact that the protections were a central feature of the Affordable Care Act and that the Republican Party has worked unceasingly to repeal the law, through legislation and lawsuits.
Republicans in Congress have recently come forward with limited legislative proposals to ensure some pre-existing conditions protections if the health law is overturned. One, a House resolution, would have no force of law, even if adopted. The other would contain a significant loophole: Insurers would have to cover those with pre-existing illnesses, but would not have to cover care for those particular illnesses. (Neither is on track to become law.)
As with some Democratic advertisements, several ads by Republicans feature family members with health problems. Some directly respond to criticisms offered by a Democratic rival. Many cite votes for Republican bills that would have overhauled large portions of Obamacare last year — the very same votes that Democrats have been using as evidence that Republicans want to limit health coverage.
Protection of pre-existing conditions is popular, and surveys suggest that voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on health care. A few months ago, Republican candidates were happy to focus their messages elsewhere — on the economy, or immigration policy. They are now defending themselves on less friendly territory.
Here are a few of this new crop of Republican ads and some context.
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The Republican candidate: Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada is in a close race for re-election against Rep. Jacky Rosen, a congresswoman from the state’s 3rd District.
The ad: To understand this advertisement, you almost need to have seen Rosen’s attack ad against Heller, which compares him to an inflatable tube man, spineless and floppy, as it describes his shifting positions on last year’s Obamacare repeal effort.
Heller’s ad shows the tube man waving on a screen beside a television camera and a director’s chair labeled ROSEN. “Jacky Rosen’s idea of fixing health care: a campaign commercial,” Heller says, as the camera zooms out. Heller criticizes Rosen for failing to advance health care legislation, saying: “I’m fighting to protect pre-existing conditions and increase funding for Nevadans who need it most. Jacky, I’ll stack my record up against yours any day.” The commercial closes with another shot of the tube man.
The strategy: Heller found himself in a tough spot when Republican repeal bills came to the Senate floor last year. Republican leadership really needed his vote to advance a bill, and he had promised as a candidate to repeal Obamacare. But Nevada’s governor opposed the legislation, saying it would hurt the state. First, Heller opposed the Senate bill. Ultimately, he voted for a more stripped-down plan that would have kept pre-existing condition