Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler:
At a town hall last month, U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler faced tough questions from constituents who are worried about losing their health care.
At one point she told the crowd, “Folks, this shouldn’t be news I want to replace the Affordable Care Act. … One of the biggest promises I made was, I’m going to fight to replace it with something better. This isn’t a change of heart. This is a promise to fight.”
One of Herrera Beutler’s first acts in Congress was a 2010 vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But what did surprise some was a statement she made in October 2016, during a campaign event. “I’m on Obamacare,” she told the crowd. “I’m on the exchange that’s available to you,” adding that’s how she knows “firsthand (that) Obamacare doesn’t meet our needs.”
Immediately, her constituents wanted to know: When did she enroll? Did she have a special plan reserved for members of Congress or was it a plan that any person could participate in?
And when her daughter was born and needed extra medical attention, was she on the exchange at the time?
In response to questions from The Columbian, Herrera Beutler said in an email that she is on a plan that is available to the public. She pays for private health insurance on the exchange, and receives an employer cost-share, as do most federal employees.
But from there, Herrera Beutler declined to give specifics. She wouldn’t answer when asked when she switched plans or what her experience on the exchange has been like compared with private coverage.
In 2014, some members of Congress were required to be covered under the health care law, according to PolitiFact, which added, “They are the only Americans facing this requirement, although Uncle Sam will still continue to pick up most of the cost.”
Herrera Beutler did say, “President Trump said as a candidate and, again, since taking office, that the replacement of the ACA will be done so that everyone now covered will remain covered and people with pre-existing conditions will continue to have access to care. I agree with him that these should be among our goals for fixing health care.”
Sen. Patty Murray:
Both U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., say they are enrolled in the health care exchange.
But while Herrera Beutler has made it her mission to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Murray, who signed up for Obamacare when it first became law, is fighting “tooth and nail” against what she’s deemed a “reckless and harmful effort to dismantle” the health care system.
“President Trump and Republicans are making it clearer every day that they never intended to follow through on their promises to provide ‘insurance for everybody’ and ensure that no one is harmed by their reckless, politically-motivated efforts to rip apart the health care system,” Murray wrote in an email.
Murray believes repealing the law would gut treatment programs for those battling opioid addiction or others living with a mental illness.
Murray, who declined to say which plan she’s covered on with the exchange, believes repealing the law would mean nearly 750,000 Washingtonians will lose their health insurance.
It would also raise premiums, slash Medicaid funding and destroy public health programs, Murray said.
But the senator isn’t against making improvements to the Affordable Care Act.
“As I’ve said many times, if Republicans are truly serious about helping women, families, and seniors get quality, affordable care, they will stop rushing to dismantle our health care system and allow us to work together on real improvements that need to be made,” Murray said, adding that those improvements include making health care more affordable, more accessible and of higher quality.
