With Pandemic Still Raging, Tillis Fails to Explain Attempts to Strip Health Care From NC'ians

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 14, 2020

With Pandemic Still Raging, Tillis Fails to Explain Multiple Attempts to Strip Health Care From North Carolinians

At First Debate, Tillis Tries to Brush Off His Office’s Terrible Treatment of Bev Veals, But He Can’t Brush Off His Miserable Health Care Record

Raleigh, N.C. - At tonight’s North Carolina Senate debate, Thom Tillis tried to brush off his office’s disgraceful treatment of three-time cancer survivor Bev Veals, pretending that it was  not an accurate reflection of his party’s position on health care. Throughout the debate, Tillis failed to explain why, in the middle of a pandemic, he has continued his career-long crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act, block Medicaid expansion, spike the cost of prescription drugs, and strip health care away from hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians.

Piedmont Rising Executive Director Casey Wilkinson made the following statement:

“Thom Tillis can try to brush off his office’s mistreatment of a desperate constituent, but he can’t avoid the basic fact that he has made a career out of blocking North Carolinians’ access to affordable health care. In service to his pharmaceutical and insurance industry donors, Tillis has repeatedly voted to repeal the ACA, blocked Medicaid expansion, and worked to spike the cost of medically necessary prescription drugs and vaccines. Tillis can try to hide from his health care record in a debate, but he can’t hide it from voters this November.”

Tillis has voted at least seven times to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. If Tillis had been successful, an estimated 607,000 North Carolinians would lose coverage, an estimate that has increased by 100,000 since the start of the pandemic. If the ACA were repealed, insurance companies could pass the entire cost of a coronavirus vaccine onto North Carolinians, and more than 1.7 million non-elderly North Carolinians - 28 percent of the state - could be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Tillis also opposed expanding Medicaid, which would provide coverage for at least 500,000 North Carolinians.

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