SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: Liberal Chuck Schumer Desperate to Continue Lies About Josh Hawley

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: Liberal Chuck Schumer Desperate to Continue Lies About Josh Hawley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 1, 2018

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: Liberal Chuck Schumer Desperate to Continue Lies About Josh Hawley

For McCaskill, protecting Obama’s liberal legacy is more important than protecting Missouri families

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Chuck Schumer’s Senate Majority PAC (SMP), a dark money ally of Claire McCaskill, has released another misleading ad accusing Attorney General Josh Hawley of wanting to take away health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. As multiple outlets have reported, Schumer is spending millions on Senator McCaskill’s behalf because she is “the candidate in need of the most help.”

Josh Hawley for Senate spokesperson Kelli Ford issued the following statement:

“Chuck Schumer is spreading lies once again so he can keep Claire McCaskill in the Senate, all because he wants to keep her vote in his back pocket. Senator McCaskill votes with Senator Schumer nearly 90 percent of the time and is always on the wrong side of what Missourians want – on conservative judges, border security and tax cuts.

“The reality is that Josh Hawley has always said he wants people with pre-existing conditions to be covered. On the other hand, Senator McCaskill is responsible for the current Obamacare mess. She was the deciding vote for it, and she is the reason families can’t afford their health care – giving us the rising costs and lack of choices we have today. She is trying to hide from her 12 years in the Senate, but the fact is that she owns the problems with our health care system, and Missourians will remember that in November.”

SCHUMER’S FALSE CLAIMS VS. FACT:

SCHUMER’S FALSE CLAIM: Josh Hawley Wants to End Coverage For People With Pre-Existing Conditions.

FACT: Josh Hawley Has Repeatedly Said He Wants To Protect Health Care Coverage For Individuals With Pre-Existing Conditions.

  • “Insurance companies should be required to cover folks with preexisting conditions, and also to allow kids to stay on their parents’ insurance up to age 26,’ Hawley said.” (Roll Call, 6/12/18)
  • “‘[McCaskill] is responsible for the fact that Missouri families can’t afford their healthcare bills,” Hawley said. “… She insists we keep Obamacare if we want to keep pre-existing coverage. I think we need to cover pre-existing conditions and get rid of Obamacare. Why is she putting partisanship first?” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/19/18)
  • “[Hawley] argues that pre-existing conditions protections could be preserved without the Affordable Care Act.” (New York Times, 8/1/18)

SCHUMER’S FALSE CLAIM: Josh Hawley Wants To End Coverage For 2.5 Million Missourians.

FACT: The 2.5 Million Statistic Used In The SMP Ad Has Been Called “Misleading” and Half True.”

  • “Outside experts we contacted said that the Center for American Progress estimate has value. But they added that the tweet is a bit misleading in how it describes the group’s numbers.” (PolitiFact, 7/26/18)
  • “We rate the statement Half True.” (PolitiFact, 7/26/18)

SCHUMER’S FALSE CLAIM: Josh Hawley Has Taken Nearly $60,000 From The Insurance Industry.

FACT: In This Election Cycle Alone, Senator McCaskill Has Taken Over $300,000 From The Insurance Industry. (Open Secrets, Accessed 8/1/18)

  • According to the same sources used in the SMP Ad, The National Institute On Money In Politics and the FEC, the $60,000 figure is false. (FEC, National Institute On Money In Politics, Accessed 8/1/18)

FACT: McCaskill Has Taken $2,249,925 From The Health Industry, Including Insurers And Pharmaceutical Makers. (Center For Responsive Politics, Accessed 5/2/18)

ADDITIONAL FACTS ON MCCASKILL’S AWFUL RECORD ON HEALTH CARE

FACT: Health Care Costs Under Obamacare Continue To Rise, With No Relief In Sight.

  • Nationally, the average 2017 health insurance premiums on Healthcare.gov were 105 percent higher than average individual market premiums in 2013. (Department of Health and Human Services, 5/23/17)

FACT: McCaskill Was The Deciding Vote On ObamaCare, And Called The Legislation “Full Of Good Things That Will Reform Health Care.”

  • McCaskill Provided The 60th Vote To Invoke Cloture On ObamaCare. (H.R. 3590, CQ Vote #395: Passed 60-39: R 0-39; D 58-0; I 2-0, 12/23/09, McCaskill Voted Yea)
  • McCASKILL: “Every day that goes by in America people are going to realize the sky is not falling. In fact, as time goes on that sky is going to get bluer and brighter because people in America are going to realize this bill is not full of booby traps, it is full of good things that will reform health care.” (Congressional Record, Page S1964, 3/24/10)