WATCH: Martha McSally Misleads Arizonans About Her Health Care Record (Again)

Fresh off a new vote to defend junk insurance plans that can refuse to cover pre-existing conditions, McSally is still trying to deceive Arizonans about her long record of voting in Washington to drive up health care costs and gut coverage protections

PHOENIX — It’s a tradition unlike any other: Martha McSally misrepresented her health care record in a weekend interview with KSAZ-TV — just two weeks after taking a new vote to undermine health care coverage protections for people who have a pre-existing condition.

Since joining Congress in 2015, McSally has repeatedly voted to gut and repeal pre-existing condition coverage protections — a record that McSally defended earlier this year, insisting that it’s “fake news” that she’s shifted away from her record of voting to spike Arizonans’ premiums and strip away coverage.

Now, McSally tells KSAZ-TV that it’s inaccurate to call out her record — despite her ongoing support for efforts that could allow big insurance companies to discriminate against older Arizonans and Arizonans who have a pre-existing condition.

• Standing By National GOP Lawsuit To End Pre-Existing Condition Coverage Protections — Attorney General Mark Brnovich and national Republicans are currently engaged in a lawsuit to strike down pre-existing condition coverage protections as “unconstitutional.” In December 2017, McSally voted to repeal the health care law’s individual mandate, paving the way for the Republican lawsuit. McSally has said “It’s not my role” to oppose the lawsuit.
• Defending “Junk” Plans That Let Insurance Companies “Deny Coverage To People With Pre-Existing Conditions” — In October, McSally voted to defend an expansion of so-called “junk” plans — plans that the AARP opposes because they let insurance companies “deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions” and even charge older Americans more for coverage.

• Proposing Plans That Don’t Protect “People With Pre-Existing Health Conditions From Being Charged Far Higher Premiums” — In the KSAZ-TV interview McSally promoted an expansion of “association health plans,” which she has previously presented as her health care solution. But the AARP has criticized association health plans because they let insurance companies undercut “the ACA rules that protect older Americans and people with preexisting health conditions from being charged far higher premiums.” The AARP also worries that such association health plans allow insurance companies to ignore “the ACA requirement to provide essential health benefits — such as emergency room care and mental health services.

Sadly, this isn’t the first or last time that we’ll hear Martha McSally mislead Arizonans about her record of voting to raise health care costs and eliminate coverage protections.

McSally tried the same stunt just last year, and Arizonans saw right through it:

PolitiFact Arizona: “Says she’s “leading the fight” to “force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions.” (Mostly False)

HuffPost: An Embattled GOP Senate Candidate Is Lying About Her Health Care Record — Again

Washington Post: Republicans’ claim of health-care protection flies in the face of reality

New York Times: Republicans Say They Will Protect Pre-existing Conditions. Their Records Say Something Else.

ThinkProgress: Republican Senate hopeful Martha McSally lies about her pre-existing condition record

MSNBC: Pre-existing positions come back to haunt key Republican candidates

Arizona Republic: Montini: Martha McSally’s R-rated health-care rant haunts her

Arizona Republic: Rep. Martha McSally: ‘I’m getting my ass kicked’ on vote to repeal ‘Obamacare’