September 28, 2020/Media, Press

Tillis’ Rubber Stamp of Trump’s SCOTUS Nominee Puts Health Care on the Ballot

Trump confirms Tillis-backed nominee will push to “terminate” ACA as NC voters say “my life depends on” the ACA

President Trump admitted over the weekend that Senator Tillis and Senate Republicans’ move to confirm a new justice to the Supreme Court even after voting has started in North Carolina will threaten North Carolinians’ health care, even as North Carolinians themselves confirm that health care is more important than ever.

Yesterday, the President tweeted that it would be a “big WIN” if the Affordable Care Act and the protections it offers is “terminated in the Supreme Court,” confirmation that his nominee to the court – which Senator Tillis has promised to rubber stamp since before they were named – will strike down the ACA.

As Senator Tillis and President Trump continue to push to upend North Carolinians’ health care, voters across the state confirmed that health care is again a “top issue” this election cycle. A North Carolina mother told the Charlotte Observer that her family is a “single issue” voter on health care, adding, “My life depends on it, and my 3-year-old’s life depends on it.”

According to a new study, 1.7 million non-elderly North Carolinians have pre-existing conditions and could lose benefits that prevent them from being disqualified from health care coverage if the ACA were struck down. Another study found 600,000 North Carolinians would lose coverage if the ACA is overturned.

“As Senator Tillis promises to rubber stamp President Trump’s nominee to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the President confirmed that the Court will strike down the Affordable Care Act and protections for 1.7 million North Carolinians with a pre-existing condition,” NCDP spokesperson Robert Howard said. “Senator Tillis’ long record trying to gut these vital protections is being put under a much harsher spotlight as voters realize how Senator Tillis is actively working to make health care out of reach for millions of North Carolinians.”

Charlotte Observer: ‘My life depends on it.’ Health care reemerges as a top issue for many NC voters
By Jim Morrill
September 25, 2020

Key Points:

  • Stephanie Killian can pinpoint the moment that health care became the overriding issue in how she votes.
  • It was three years ago when her son, Jacob, was born with a rare, congenital heart defect. He underwent open-heart surgery before he was five months old.
  • Her focus was only amplified this year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has since undergone a mastectomy and four months of chemo.
  • “Since 2017, health care became — and forever will be — our family’s top singular voting issue,” said Killian, 37, a Mooresville lawyer. “My life depends on it, and my 3-year-old’s life depends on it.”
  • In a year when a worldwide pandemic, economic disruptions and protests over racial inequities have dominated headlines, health care has reemerged as a priority for many North Carolina voters.
  • Last week’s death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg cast the future of the Affordable Care Act in doubt. The law is scheduled for a high court hearing in November. Her passing also put into play the fate of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion rights.
  • A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care policy center, found that 1.7 million non-elderly North Carolinians have pre-existing conditions that once would have disqualified them from health care coverage. Another study found 600,000 North Carolinians would lose coverage if the ACA is overturned.

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