MILWAUKEE, WI – Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Dr. Amy Fiedler and Wisconsin resident Megan McGee joined Protect Our Care Wisconsin to discuss what is at stake for Wisconsinites’ health care in this election. On November 10, one week after the election, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in California v. Texas, the lawsuit led by the Trump administration and 18 Republican state Attorneys General to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
For years, Republicans have attempted to sabotage and destroy the Affordable Care Act. If Republicans succeed, they threaten to destroy access to health care for millions of Americans, including 112,000 Wisconsinites, and to eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions, including more than 2.4 million Wisconsinites. Speakers highlighted the dire emergency created by the Trump administration and Republicans pushing to repeal the Affordable Care Act when Wisconsinites need it the most.
“We have heard for years that Trump will have a health care plan that is better and cheaper than the ACA, and we have seen nada,” said Congresswoman Gwen Moore, who has joined her Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives in working to lower costs and expand access to health care. “Four years later, we are still waiting. The American people cannot rely on empty executive orders to protect them.”
“When the Affordable Care Act came around, it was a huge relief for me and for millions of others,” said Megan McGee, a Wisconsin mother who struggled to find health coverage before the Affordable Care Act prohibited insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. Like many Wisconsinites, Megan fears that if the Affordable Care Act is eliminated, she and her family will face challenges in accessing the care they need. “I’m very grateful and I just hope it never goes back to the way it was back then, when the smallest thing could completely uproot someone’s life.”
“As a physician, this election isn’t about politics, it’s about human rights. Health care is a human right, and health care is on the ballot during this election,” said Dr. Amy Fiedler, a cardiac surgeon from Madison, who has been critical of President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. “As the pandemic continues to ravage our country, we’re seeing cases increasing exponentially by the day. Here in our home state of Wisconsin, and at the hospital where I work, cases are surging, and Donald Trump is doing nothing about this. Donald Trump is coming and holding super-spreader rally events in Wisconsin, as the pandemic is ravishing our state. It’s completely inappropriate.”
“As State Treasurer, I can tell you, the health of the economy is dependent on the health of our people,” said Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski. “It’s been clear, health care is on the ballot, and it’s also been clear that this President does not care about the health and well-being of Wisconsinites. If he did care, he wouldn’t be dismantling the Affordable Care Act in the middle of a pandemic.” Treasurer Godlewski was also critical of President Trump’s failure to present a health care plan of his own. “President Trump and the Republicans have shown us who they are when it comes to health care. They don’t have a plan, period. Not for controlling the virus, and not for replacing the Affordable Care Act.”
You can watch a recording of the event here, and learn more about how the lawsuit to eliminate the Affordable Care Act would devastate Wisconsinites here.
