For Immediate Release
September 18, 2018
Contact: Alex Japko, alexj@wisdems.org
Walker Fundraiser Hosted By Prominent Opponents of Health Care Protections
If you still had any doubt about Scott Walker’s motivations on health care, all you have to do is follow the money.
Last Friday, on the very same day that Walker’s campaign began airing an ad claiming he would protect Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions, Walker flew to Virginia for a fundraiser hosted by dark money donors who have supported groups working to gut those same protections for years.
Among the hosts for his swanky swamp fundraiser were Fred Malek and Phil Cox – two GOP operatives who have worked to undermine the Affordable Care Act and protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Then the following day, as Walker counted the checks from these anti-ACA donors, he cynically took to Twitter to beg for money to keep his misleading new ad on the air.
“Just follow the money and you’ll see that Scott Walker has no credibility on the issue of protecting Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions,” said DPW spokesperson Alex Japko. “Walker and his rich donors are working to gut protections for Wisconsinites, regardless of what their dishonest ads say. Wisconsin voters won’t be fooled by his empty political promises.”
Fred Malek is the founder of the American Action Network, a dark money group that has spent millions pushing ACA repeal and funding GOP candidates. . More recently,, AAN spent at least $5.6 million to boost a 2017 GOP health care repeal bill, running ads that falsely claimed the bill would protect people with pre-existing conditions.
From Politifact:
However, the ad omits that the House GOP health plan would weaken protections for these patients. The legislation would allow states to give insurers the power to charge people significantly more if they had a pre-existing condition. While Republicans point to the fact that those patients could get help through high-risk pools, experts question their effectiveness. Current law does not allow states to charge people with pre-existing conditions significantly more. We rate this claim Mostly False.
Phil Cox was a longtime business partner of Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips. For years, AFP’s“most ambitious goal” has been therepeal the Affordable Care Act. Cox also worked as Executive Director of the RGA in 2014 — a year marked by aggressive campaigns by GOP gubernatorial candidates across the country against the Affordable Care Act.
And as a final reminder: Walker has yet to respond to Tony Evers’ challenge to drop Wisconsin from the multi-state lawsuit to eliminate the ACA and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Perhaps he’s too busy doing the bidding of his donors.
