Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) teamed up with Florida state Democrats on a teleconference call to denounce Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for signing onto the lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was dubbed Obamacare by Republicans.
The lawsuit was filed after a federal judge ruled that the tax penalty mandate in the law for anyone that did not purchase health insurance was deemed unconstitutional. Republicans quickly pushed press forward with a lawsuit to repeal the entire law.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz repeated her remarks in a video she posted on Twitter, saying that Moody and President Trump were “sabotaging the ACA” and putting the healthcare coverage of millions of Americans in jeopardy, especially those with pre-existing medical conditions like herself.
“While the virus ravages our state and our country, Donald Trump and Ashley Moody are busy stuffing out our healthcare coverage, said Wasserman Schultz
“In Florida, sabotaging the ACA would kick 2 million residents off their insurance, jeopardize their coverage, jeopardize the coverage of millions more like me, who have pre-existing conditions,” said Wasserman Schultz “That is what Donald Trump and Ashley Moody are doing. Today, today, court briefs are being filed with the U.S. Supreme Court to block their attempts to sabotage the ACA.”
But Wasserman Schultz may have stretched her case a bit when she said that all Americans with pre-existing medical conditions were “the very same population” that was “vulnerable to the coronavirus” that has killed over 73,000 people.
“The people with the most to lose in gutting the ACA, are people with pre-existing conditions, and that is the very same population that is vulnerable to the coronavirus,” said Wasserman Schultz
While there are millions of Americans with pre-existing pulmonary issues, and other medical conditions like Diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung disease, asthma, and liver disease, not all pre-existing conditions put people more at risk of “severe illness” from the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists these pre-existing conditions and those “groups at higher risk of severe illness” on their website.
According to Cigna Healthcare, a definition of a pre-existing condition is “a medical illness or injury” that an individual had before he or she signed up for a new health care plan.
“Conditions like diabetes, COPD, cancer, and sleep apnea, may be examples of pre-existing health conditions. They tend to be chronic or long-term,” states Cigna’s website.
Wasserman Schultz is right to say that Americans with prior medical issues are more susceptible to getting really sick from the COVID-19 virus, but not everyone with pre-existing conditions is at risk of getting severely sick.
