Brown concerned with Senate’s inaction, temperment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Americans are increasingly frustrated and angry” about the Senate’s inability to take action, and now, to see “Mitch McConnell drop everything to put a corporate special interest justice on the Supreme Court” just highlights the “mean-spiritedness of elected officials,” Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said this week.

Brown hosted a news conference call Wednesday to discuss what is at stake if President Donald Trump, McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Republicans are successful in their “Supreme Court power grab” and efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act.

“For gosh sakes, take away people’s health care in the middle of a pandemic?” Brown said. “Republicans are trying to use the court to legislate what they couldn’t do and eliminate the Affordable Care Act.”

Brown listed what is at stake if the ACA is

eliminated, including access to preventative care, keeping children on a parent’s plan up to age 26, prescription drug savings and the option to cancel insurance for those with pre-existing conditions.

“You can hear the anguish in the voices of people who are scared to death at the thought of losing their health care,” the senator said.

With Americans already voting in the general election, Brown said the Senate should not be putting someone on the Supreme Court. Instead, the Senate should be focused on addressing the global health and economic crises at hand, he said.

The senator was joined on the call by Donna and William McCoy. The McCoys live in Dayton with their son, William III, who has sickle cell anemia. He receives his care from the Dayton Children’s Hospital and the family relies on the ACA’s preexisting conditions protections for affordable and reliable coverage.

“The ACA is important for working class families like ours, who live daily to make sure their child with a chronic medical condition, such as sickle cell anemia, has access to affordable and reliable health care. Preexisting conditions should not mean lacking health care or receiving inadequate coverage. Upon my husband’s departure from active duty, it was a major concern whether we would be able to afford care for our son, who has sickle cell disease. The ACA provided peace of mind, knowing that our family would have access to health care during and after our transition,” said Donna.

On Nov. 10, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a lawsuit supported by Trump to overturn the Affordable Care Act completely, including guaranteed protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing health conditions.

If confirmed by the Senate, Trump’s nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, could participate in the court’s decision.