With a battle cry of “Repeal Obamacare”, Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate earlier this month. Wrangling in Washington over when—or if—to actually act on that campaign promise is part of the backdrop to Louisiana’s Senate runoff.
Congressman Bill Cassidy and his GOP supporters are carrying the “Repeal Obamacare” banner into the campaign against incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu. A new TV ad by the National Republican Senatorial Committee is a case in point.
“Thanks to Mary Landrieu being the deciding vote to pass Obamacare, almost 100-thousand Louisianans were told they’re being thrown off their health insurance,” the ad’s spokeswoman states.
Southern University political scientist Albert Samuels is watching the race closely, and he says that ad is intentionally misleading.
“Private insurers routinely drop people from the independent insurance market. But it’s become convenient to blame that on the Affordable Care Act,” Samuels notes.
While Landrieu freely admits she voted for—and still supports—Obamacare, she concedes it could use some tweaking.
“The Affordable Care Act is not perfect: it needs to be fixed—not under any circumstance repeal it,” Landrieu stated during debates ahead of the Nov. 4 primary.
But Samuels says Landrieu is missing an opportunity by not “naming and claiming” the components of Obamacare supported by the majority of Louisianans.
“Mary Landrieu needs to own some of the policy successes of the Obama administration—even on the Affordable Care Act,” Samuels says, and goes on to list some of the universally popular provisions of the ACA.
“The fact that people can now keep their kids on their insurance to age 26—that is very popular. The fact that insurance companies can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Why aren’t you attacking Bill Cassidy for not having an alternative? Repealing Obamacare means that those protections go away.”
A University of New Orleans poll conducted last month showed 76 percent of Louisiana residents believe insurers should be required to cover anyone who applies for medical insurance—including those with pre-existing conditions.
Camille Winningham is 30 years old, but is one of those people with a pre-existing condition.
“As young as I am, I’m not exactly in the best health in the world. I actually have a thyroid issue,” she explains.
Camille works in the human resources department of a large Baton Rouge-based firm, so professionally she’s very aware of what is now covered by health insurance, under the Affordable Care Act. Personally, she is soon facing surgery to remove her thyroid.
“I just started working for the company I work for now in February, and I have to have surgery this year to have it removed. And what would the case have been if we didn’t have the Affordable Care Act for pre-existing conditions?” she wonders aloud.
Noel Youngblood is a machinery supervisor for Turner Industries. He has always had good health insurance, and his biggest complaint is its cost.
“Everybody that walks in the emergency room for stupid reasons—for unnecessary reasons—somebody gotta pay for it,” Youngblood remonstrates. “Because they got a bad cold or flu, why don’t they go to the doctor’s office? Doctor’s office won’t let ‘em in. I heard about it on the radio the other day.”
Noel, who is 55, thinks Congress should fix the law so people can choose to not be covered—and not pay—for things they don’t need. He gives maternity care as an example.
“Because a lot of people have to have insurance, they all have to cover stuff like maternity or whatever, and they ain’t gonna have no more kids. Like me and my wife. We’re not gonna have no more kids, why do we need maternity?” Youngblood says in frustration.
That’s a concept Bill Cassidy supports. His official platform states: “Patients should have the power to choose health care options that make sense for them.” And one of Cassidy’s favorite lines is, “I have found that when the patient has the power, the system lines up to serve the patient.”
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is now saying a Republican-led full repeal of the Affordable Care Act is unlikely—as long as Obama is president. But throwing out the bad and keeping the good? Maybe.
Louisiana voters must now decide who—Cassidy or Landrieu—is more likely to help make those changes to the national health care law.
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