NEW TV AD: Guess Blanche Lincoln sided with big insurance companies because they can afford big campaign contributions

SCRIPT

SUPPORTING FACTS

Nancy Shaw:

My daughter Cassie has special needs - she faces a lot of health problems... so I worry about health insurance.

That's why I'm so upset that Senator Blanche Lincoln voted to allow health insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

ۢ    Lincoln voted with Republicans 13 times on March 24 and March 25, 2010, to try to prevent the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 from passing.  Many of her votes were on amendments to the bill, but she also voted with the GOP against passage of HR 4872 in Senate Vote 105.  [HR 4872, Senate Votes 65, 66, 69, 78, 82, 83, 85, 3/24/2010; HR 4872, Senate Votes 90, 94, 97, 100, 103, 105, 3/25/2010]

ۢ    On March 22, 2010, the New York Times reported that the Reconciliation Bill "would extend the ban on exclusion based on medical condition and annual limits to all employer-sponsored health plans by 2014."  [New York Times, 3/22/2010]

ۢ    On March 18, 2010, Think Progress published an analysis of the Reconciliation Bill, noting that, "the reconciliation bill also met the concerns of Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and expanded the prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusion, the lifetime and annual limits, dependent coverage through 26 to the employer market beginning in 2014."  [Think Progress, 3/18/2010]

ۢ    The official House summary of the Reconciliation Bill notes specifically that the bill protects consumers with pre-existing conditions:

Applies to grandfathered group health plans for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014, provisions that: (1) prohibit a health plan from establishing annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant or beneficiary, except that restrictions on annual limits apply for plan years beginning on or after six months after enactment of PPACA; and (2) prohibit a health plan from imposing any preexisting condition exclusions, except that such requirements apply for plan years beginning on or after six months after enactment of PPACA for enrollees under 19 years of age.  [Library of Congress Summary of HR 4872, accessed 4/30/2010]

ۢ    The House Committee on Rules also specifically notes the fact that the Reconciliation bill protects those with pre-existing conditions in its analysis of the bill:

For group health plans, prohibits pre-existing condition exclusions in 2014 (for children, they are prohibited starting six months after enactment), restricts annual limits beginning six months after enactment, and prohibits them starting in 2014. For coverage of non-dependent children prior to 2014, the requirement on group health plans is limited to those adult children without an employer offer of coverage.  [U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Rules, accessed 4/30/2010]

I guess Blanche Lincoln sided with the big insurance companies because they can afford big campaign contributions.

According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Lincoln has taken at least $604,883 from the Insurance industry over the course of her career.  [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/8/2010

We need a Senator that's going to truly stand up for what the working people need.

Narrator:

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