A Line in the Sand has been drawn on Healthcare

Bismarck, ND – The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has provided the people of North Dakota with quality health care for many years, including coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions, and medicaid expansion that have kept rural and critical access facilities afloat.

The future of the ACA continues to remain on shaky ground due to a Texas-based lawsuit that Attorney General Stenehjem signed on to and defends, and all top ranking NDGOP officials fully support.

Sen. Tim Mathern (D-Fargo) proposed SB 2222, which was struck down along party lines in the North Dakota Senate this past Friday, Jan. 29. This comes two years after NDGOP officials removed an amendment to protect individuals with preexisting conditions. Mathern’s legislation sought to ensure that important provisions in the ACA, like coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions, would continue in the state regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.

 

Democratic-NPL Chair Kylie Oversen said:

“Without these critical provisions, the thread that tens of thousands of North Dakotans and our rural healthcare infrastructure are holding onto would be in dire jeopardy of snapping. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 North Dakotans, and infected many more, the North Dakota Republicans continue to show that they have no appetite, or plan, to provide affordable and accessible coverage, if the ACA is struck down in court. Rather, they are more interested in embarrassing the state by wearing Crown Royal bags as face masks in the capitol, or supporting blatantly unconstitutional legislation that will cost you, the taxpayer, millions in court expenses.”

 

Oversen continued:

“Gov. Burgum, AG Stenehjem and the radical supermajority in the legislature have used their power to flush taxpayer money down the drain. They fight to take away your health care while pushing bogus anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, and advocating for steak dinners on your dime. It’s well past time that your elected officials do their job for once, and pledge to work towards helping the families and small businesses who have been decimated by this crisis instead of using your hard earned money for their own selfish benefit. It’s your tax money, are you getting what you paid for?”