ENNIS, Mont. — Montana U.S. Senate candidate Matt Rosendale is running in a new world for Republicans: one where Obamacare repeal is not the clear-cut winner it was in the last two midterm elections.
Rosendale said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that he opposes the federal mandates in Obamacare that force health insurance carriers to cover pre-existing medical conditions and prohibit lifetime caps on payouts, but would find other ways to provide coverage.
Republicans have found themselves on the defensive on healthcare, as they struggle to maintain their opposition to Obamacare while accommodating the more popular provisions of the law. Rosendale, challenging Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in the midterm elections, pointed to proposals he authored as Montana’s elected state auditor that he said would address pre-existing conditions without Obamacare’s mandates.
“I support covering pre-existing and chronic conditions and have put solutions forward to do so. And, we can do it without having a federal mandate that dictates to everybody how they are to take care of their healthcare needs,” Rosendale told the Washington Examiner, as he campaigned across Western Montana.
It’s possible that Rosendale is one of those Republicans that President Trump is going to want to speak to about the issue. Trump, who rallied for Rosendale in Missoula, Mont., on Thursday, suggested in a tweet posted the same day that that he backs the current Obamacare protections — and that he’ll have a talking-to with any in his party who disagree.
“All Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they don’t, they will after I speak to them. I am in total support. Also, Democrats will destroy your Medicare, and I will keep it healthy and well!” Trump tweeted.
Trump did not elaborate on what form the policy should take. In 2017, House Republicans passed a bill partially repealing Obamacare that would have largely, though not entirely, maintained federal protections for pre-existing conditions. The legislation later died in the Senate.
Former President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul is finally a political asset for the Democrats, eight years after dissatisfaction with the law helped cost them control of the House; and four years after its unpopularity contributed to the loss of the majority in the Senate. In House and Senate races this cycle, Democrats are running openly on preserving and strengthening what’s left of Obamacare after Republicans chipped away at it these past two years.
Many Republicans have been playing defense on the issue of pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps. Tester, under fire in conservative-leaning Montana for opposing much of Trump’s agenda, especially the confirmation of newly minted Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, is pushing Rosendale hard on healthcare.
[Trump: Jon Tester treated Ronny Jackson ‘worse than the Democrat Mob’ treated Kavanaugh]
As Trump’s tweet indicates, the attacks could pay dividends in this Senate race, a contest that has become competitive only in recent weeks. Rosendale flatly rejects the Democratic characterizations of his healthcare positions, calling them a “false narrative.”
“The Democrats don’t have anything to run on so they try to re-write history and say that anybody who’s against Obamacare is against good healthcare,” he said, listing all of the Affordable Care Act’s mandates and directives that caused a backlash against the law during Obama’s eight-year tenure in the White House.
“The fact of the matter is, by bringing Obamacare and imposing it upon all the people of this state, what they said is that they know better — the elitists from Washington, D.C., know better what you should have to take care of your health care needs,” Rosendale continued. “I flatly disagree with that and have brought options forward so that people could access healthcare in a way that recognizes their budget, their personal health care needs and their personal choices.”
