NEW: Gardner Admits Stunt Health Care Vote Wasn’t Actually to Protect People With Pre-Existing Conditions

The Hill: Gardner claimed it was for an “opportunity to vote on my bill,” but that sham bill “would actually let insurance companies refuse to sell coverage to people with pre-existing conditions”

Gardner “did not reply to a follow-up question about whether he supports the GOP’s lawsuit”

Denver, CO - The Hill reports that Senator Cory Gardner admitted his election year stunt vote yesterday was actually just for an “opportunity to vote” on his sham health care bill that “would actually let insurance companies refuse to sell coverage to people with pre-existing conditions” -- not a vote to actually stand up for people with pre-existing conditions. 

Aside from Gardner’s questionable take on Senate procedure, the vote comes as Gardner is desperately attempting to deceive Coloradans about his decade-long crusade against the Affordable Care Act and hide his support for the President Trump-backed lawsuit to repeal the ACA in the middle of a pandemic. Despite Gardner calling the health care law “unconstitutional,” he is dodging questions on the topic and refused to tell The Hill if he still supports the lawsuit after yesterday's vote.

Gardner supports Trump’s anti-ACA nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, who will likely have the opportunity to strike down the ACA after the Court hears the GOP’s lawsuit on November 10th. That’s the vote that matters.

See highlights of The Hill report below or full article HERE.

The Hill: GOP struggles to play defense on Trump's ObamaCare lawsuit
By Jesse Hellmann | October 2, 2020

• Republicans are struggling to show they support ObamaCare’s protections for people with pre-existing health conditions as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in a Trump-backed lawsuit that seeks to overturn the entire health care law.
  
• Several Senate Republicans have found themselves playing defense, and on Thursday, six of them, who previously voted to repeal ObamaCare, voted with Democrats on a procedural motion to debate a bill that would block the Department of Justice from arguing against the law in court.
  
• “The bottom line is none of these bills replace the ACA, nor would they stem the increase in the number of people who would be uninsured should the ACA be struck down. No one should mistake these bills for any comprehensive plan.”
  
• Another bill, sponsored by Gardner, called the “Pre-Existing Conditions Protect Act” would actually let insurance companies refuse to sell coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, experts say. If an insurer did decide to sell a policy to someone with pre-existing conditions, under Gardner’s bill it could not refuse to not cover services related to that condition or charge them more based on their health status.
  
• Gardner told The Hill in a statement he voted with Democrats Thursday because “it would have provided an opportunity to vote on my bill to protect coverage with pre-existing conditions.”
  
• “I support having this important dialogue with my colleagues,” he said. His office did not reply to a follow-up question about whether he supports the GOP’s lawsuit.
  
• “Cory Gardner has voted over a dozen times to repeal, defund or weaken the ACA,” Hickenlooper tweeted Wednesday.
  
• “Cory Gardner can lie all he wants on TV — but the truth is, he will not protect your health care.”

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