Another Republican caught in the Obamacare dilemma:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/...
Scott Brown launched his national career four years ago with a pledge to block President’s Obama’s health care plan. But now, even as he campaigns for the US Senate in New Hampshire on what he called the “Obamacare Isn’t Working” tour, he is showing an openness to keeping some of the extolled benefits of the overhaul.
That includes an expansion of health insurance for low-income residents using Medicaid money, recently approved by New Hampshire’s Legislature.
“You can incorporate any of the considerations for those people on Medicaid expansion into a plan that works for us,” Brown said Wednesday in Concord, after touring a company that designs, manufactures, and sells medical electronics.
Brown, hoping to capitalize on the particularly rocky rollout of the overhaul in New Hampshire, favors repealing the overall law and said he cast three votes to do so while he served in the Senate representing Massachusetts.
But he did not directly answer questions from a reporter about whether he supported or opposed the Medicaid expansion. Instead, he expressed concern about the Obama administration’s “trail of broken promises” and said he wondered where money for expanded coverage would come from after three years, when the federal government’s commitment drops from 100 to 95 percent of the cost.
Brown’s conundrum is emblematic of a tension facing Republicans around the country. The health law’s low standing in opinion polls is a key reason many political handicappers are predicting that Republicans will regain control of the Senate after this November’s congressional elections. - Boston Globe, 5/8/14
This isn't surprising that Brown would show his hypocrisy when it comes to his stance on the ACA:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Brown rode a Tea Party wave to the senate in January of 2010 by promising to become the 41st vote to block Obamacare. But soon after it became law, he acknowledged relying on one of its provisions to “keep his elder daughter on his congressional health insurance plan.” “Of course I do,’’ the Massachusetts Republican told the Boston Globe in May of 2010, when asked if 23-year-old Ayla Brown has taken advantage of the provision. He argued that keeping his daughter on his health care plan “is not inconsistent with his criticism of the federal law…because the same coverage could be required by individual states.”
Indeed, as a Massachusetts state senator, Brown voted for the state’s 2006′s reform law, which provided the template for the Affordable Care Act, and similarly extended dependent coverage. The Massachusetts reform, commonly known as Chapter 58, also includes an individual health insurance mandate, employer responsibility provisions, insurance exchanges, government affordability credits and strict insurance regulations. Brown praised the state law during his 2010 senate campaign, asking during one debate, “[W]hy do we need a one size fits all government approach we already did it?” he asked. “[W]hy would we go and subsidize the failure of other states – not only would we be paying for our plan, we’d be paying for everyone else.”
An Associated Press report previewing Brown’s kickoff campaign event characterizes his claim that health care premiums will increase by 90 percent as dishonest. The statistic is based on a survey that included “a single New Hampshire broker” and “refers only to the premium increase for individual policy holders.” “Less than 7 percent of New Hampshire’s insured have individual plans; the vast majority of insured residents are covered by their employers,” the AP writes. - Think Progress, 4/10/14
Brown's been having trouble really stating his true position on the ACA:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
In a weekend interview with WMUR, Scott Brown — who is running for Senate in New Hampshire — attempted to explain his stance on health care. He endorsed the general goals of protecting people with preexisting conditions and expanding coverage to those who need it. But he then denounced Obamacare as a “disaster,” citing the usual litany of Obama tyrannies and horror stories often hawked by Republicans.
So, how would Senator Scott Brown go about accomplishing the goals he says he supports? Well, he urges reform on the state level. Here’s the key quote from the interview (just after the 10-minute mark):
“I’ve always felt that people should either get some type of health care options, or pay for it with a nice competitive fee. That’s all great. I believe it in my heart. In terms of preexisting conditions, catastrophic coverage, covering kids — whatever we want to do, we can do it. As a matter of fact, in New Hampshire, I would encourage everybody to do a New Hampshire plan that works for New Hamphsire, that deals with individual freedoms, and doesn’t have mandates put on by bureaucrats in Washington….a plan that is good for New Hampshire…can include the Medicaid expansion folks who need that care and coverage.”
Asked if he agrees with the “philosophy” behind the Affordable Care Act, and if his problem is merely its “mechanism” for carrying out those philosophical goals, Brown replied: “Absolutely,” before reiterating that the law is a disaster.
New Hamsphire recently moved forward with its version of the Medicaid expansion. Brown supports repeal — which would do away with the expansion — and yet to my knowledge, he has not taken a position directly on the expansion when asked. Repeal would scrap Obamacare’s consumer protections and other efforts to expand coverage. Brown (who supported Romneycare in Massachusetts) appears to think federal reform should be repealed and replaced with state level reform. Until he says otherwise, that seems to mean he doesn’t envision a federal “replace” plan. - Washington Post, 4/28/14
Yeah, maybe take a little time to think about where you stand on this issue Scott. Meanwhile, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D. NH) is in full campaign mode:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/...
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, facing a challenge for Scott Brown, today launched the first television advertisement of her re-election bid.
The 30-second spot, which a Shaheen aide said will air on local New Hampshire stations for at least a week, focuses on Shaheen’s accomplishments helping veterans in the state.
In the ad, veteran Dwight Clark says that Shaheen “cut through the red tape” to help get a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic open in the city of Keene.
“Jeanne Shaheen,” Clark says, “gets the job done for New Hampshire.” - Boston Globe, 5/4/14
If you would like to donate and get involved with Shaheen's campaign, you can do so here:
http://jeanneshaheen.org/