Yesterday, as part of Biden for President Wisconsin’s “Joe’s in Your Corner” tour, Wisconsin women leaders — including former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America Cecile Richards, State Assembly Candidate and Registered Nurse Sara Rodriguez, Pediatric Dentist Colleen Greene of Wauwatosa, Emergency Medicine Doctor Jillian Theobold of Franklin, Pediatric Anesthesiologist Chelsea A. Willie of Milwaukee, and Family Medicine Doctor and Doctors for Biden Co-Chair Joanna Bisgrove of Oregon — discussed Joe Biden’s commitment to protect care for people with pre-existing conditions, lower the cost of health care, and expand coverage to all Americans. The leaders also highlighted President Trump’s ongoing attempts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and his failed response to the pandemic.
More than 2.4 million individuals in Wisconsin have pre-existing conditions, including over 300,000 children. If President Trump succeeds in his attempt to overturn the Affordable Care Act, more than 150,000 Wisconsinites stand to lose their coverage, driving up the rate of uninsured nonelderly individuals in the state by 35%.
“Health care is on the ballot in more ways than one, whether it’s the Affordable Care Act that’s at risk, or the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has affected all of us,” said State Assembly Candidate and Registered Nurse Sara Rodriguez. “We need leadership who will listen to the science and the experts to be able to combat COVID-19. I know that Joe and Kamala will do this on day one.”
“Something that comes up every day for us is PPE,” said Pediatric Anesthesiologist Chelsea A. Willie of Milwaukee. “We have to wear the same mask for ten weeks…share gowns…because we’re concerned that we’re going to be short and not properly take care of our patients.”
“If the Affordable Care Act falls, what happens is we go back to this era before the [ACA] where the insurance company can charge you more or deny you coverage at all,” said Family Medicine Doctor and Doctors for Biden Co-Chair Joanna Bisgrove of Oregon. “Before the Affordable Care Act, people would max out the amount of insurance coverage they have and then they’re on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars for the rest of their life.”
“We know there is a case that this administration has been pushing that is coming before the Supreme Court five days after the election,” said Cecile Richards, Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “This is a case that would end access to care for millions of people as well as threaten health care coverage for folks with pre-existing conditions.”
“From my own personal experience, the emergency department is often the place where people come when the health care system has left them behind,” said Emergency Medicine Doctor Jillian Theobold of Franklin. “It’s scary for me to think that it could only get worse after the gains that we have made with the Obama Administration and the Affordable Care Act.”
“We are calling thousands of families who missed their visits because we couldn’t function and they are telling us ‘I don’t feel safe because I know there are PPE shortages and I know that I can’t get tested before coming in,’” said Pediatric Dentist Colleen Greene of Wauwatosa.
