ICYMI: “Fact Check” Shows NDGOP Misleading North Dakotans About Cramer’s Record

(BISMARCK, ND) – The NDGOP is desperately trying to cover up Kevin Cramer’s record of jeopardizing coverage for folks with pre-existing conditions. Their latest attempt? Misleading North Dakotans about Cramer’s support for the MacArthur amendment, to try and prove that he never voted to completely cut protections for pre-existing conditions. But, as this fact check from Axios points out, the NDGOP is once again on the defense and is misleading North Dakotans about Cramer’s record.

Axios:

• Naturally, Cramer doesn’t like [Heitkamp’s latest] ad. The North Dakota GOP accused Heitkamp of telling “repeated lies” about his stance on pre-existing conditions.
• The party pointed out that the House repeal-and-replace bill, which Cramer voted for, included what was referred to as the “MacArthur amendment,” which preserved the ACA’s prohibition on insurers denying coverage based on someone’s health status.
• Fact check: Yes, the MacArthur amendment technically protected sick people’s ability to get coverage. But it allowed for states, in limited circumstances, to waive the ACA provisions that prevent insurers from charging people a higher premium because of their health status and require plans to cover a set of minimum benefits.
• That means that while people with pre-existing conditions couldn’t be denied coverage outright, they could be offered coverage that was too expensive to be attainable or that excluded health benefits that they needed – making the remaining coverage guarantee relatively worthless.

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