MADISON, Wis. – Today, on the heels of Ron Johnson’s claim that if the GOP takes back control of government they should prioritize repealing the Affordable Care Act, Wisconsinites who rely on the ACA called out Senator Ron Johnson for doubling down on his self-serving agenda to rip away key protections from Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions and increase health care costs.
Speakers noted Johnson’s long history of attacking Wisconsinites health care – including lobbying for the dismantling of the bill for years and voting against Democrats’ American Rescue Plan, which lowered health insurance premiums for working families.
Lynn Carey:
“So here we are again, in 2022, and [Ron Johnson] is at it again, trying to fulfill his own agenda that actually would harm so many Wisconsinites.
“We’re coming upon the one-year anniversary of the American Rescue Plan, where again, health care costs were lowered during the pandemic. And again, this plan was passed without the vote of a single Republican in Congress — and that includes Ron Johnson. I believe Ron Johnson has a clear record of voting against health care for Wisconsin.”
Sarah Conklin:
“Senator Johnson has made it clear he doesn’t care about me or other hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who have pre-existing conditions. In my opinion, Senator Johnson is hell-bent on fulfilling his misguided self-serving agenda that only hurts people like me. He’s more concerned with changing the laws to enrich himself and his donors than lowering health care costs or protecting vulnerable Wisconsinites like myself.”
William Gracia:
“Without the protections of the ACA, my daughter would never be able to have insurance. And without insurance, we could never afford the surgeries, the medicine, the ER visits – that have been a kind of constant presence in my daughter’s life. So when I hear Ron Johnson say these things, it is very personal to me. If he’s willing to throw my daughter out without insurance, and without a future, he’s willing to do that to any child in Wisconsin and any child in America.”
Dr. Kristin Lyerly:
“Yesterday, Ron Johnson actually admitted that the main goal was to paralyze the government – paralyze the government – [to] not work until the GOP can take over. And then, he used the repeal of the ACA as his prime example of what he would do… His actions and his words tell us that Ron Johnson believes that health care isn’t a right…No. Ron Johnson believes that health care is a privilege and only those who can afford it, deserve it.
“It’s no wonder that Johnson joined the entire Republican Party in voting against the American Rescue Plan, which cut health care costs for millions of Americans and provided critical funding to hospitals and health clinics across the state to help us take care of our patients in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic. It’s obvious, I can’t trust Ron Johnson to stand up for my patients.”
