U.S. Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan pushed back against Gov. Scott Walker’s support of the Affordable Care Act lawsuit, which intends to roll back on protections created by Obama, in a statement released Friday.
Walker has called for a special legislative session in order to address the concern that the lawsuit will not protect patients with pre-existing conditions, but Pocan believes he should drop the lawsuit entirely.
“You can say you want people covered but if you really mean it, drop out of the lawsuit,” said Pocan in last week’s statement. “It’s a terrible lawsuit that’s going to risk people losing their coverage.”
Wisconsin is one of 19 other states that filed the lawsuit against ACA in February. If passed by the Congress or through the trial, the lawsuit has the potential to strip health care access for patients with pre-existing conditions by changing the regulation requirements of insurers. This would in turn impact patients’ price for prescription drugs that were previously covered.
State law currently requires health insurers to provide basic services, but this does not include often expensive speciality drugs. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 852,000 people in Wisconsin would be prevented from buying health insurance if the Affordable Care Act was suspended or declared unconstitutional.
Walker claims to care about the impact of this lawsuit on patients with pre-existing conditions, but many Democrats like Pocan and Tony Evers, the Democratic candidate for governor, believe his claims are ingenuine.
"Scott Walker, if you're watching, I have a challenge for you," Evers said in an online campaign advertisement. "If you want to protect the millions of Wisconsinites with a pre-existing condition, drop Wisconsin from this lawsuit today because actions speak louder than empty political promises.”
