- Just before we interviewed U.S. Senator Ron Johnson
a week ago on this program,
we received an email from a viewer in Appleton.
She wanted us to ask the senator his position
on how any new health care bill
would treat people with pre-existing conditions.
And whether he wants to allow
refusal of coverage or higher rates.
Jennifer Edmondson wrote us
that she is a six-year breast cancer survivor
and says because of it her insurance premiums
went through the roof until the ACA became law,
when she was able to purchase
affordable health care insurance.
Jennifer Edmondson joins us now from Appleton
and thanks very much for doing so.
- Thank you for inviting me.
- Just to remind our viewers, we asked Senator Johnson last
week if he thinks any bill should include protections
for pre-existing conditions.
Here's what he said.
- I think our country has decided we want
to protect people with pre-existing conditions,
but we can do it in a manner that doesn't collapse these
individual markets and doesn't unfairly put the cost burden
on a very small slice of the American population.
Wisconsin's high risk pool isn't perfect,
but it worked pretty well.
So we should take a look at those best practice examples
and that's the path toward guaranteeing people coverage
with pre-existing districts without collapsing markets
and without causing premiums to skyrocket.
- Now Jennifer did you feel like he answered your questions
about what's going to happen to people like you?
- No, not at all.
I found that his response was disappointing
and he left out a number of details
that, I think if people knew about them, they'd be shocked.
- Like what?
- Well, three things come to mind.
First is the topic of high-risk pools.
Senator Johnson commented that he thought
the Wisconsin high-risk pool that existed before the ACA,
I think he said it worked pretty well.
What he didn't tell us is that when the high-risk pool
was in effect, 500,000,
that's half a million Wisconsinites, were put into that high-risk pool.
However, their premiums were so high they were not able
to afford those premiums and so they remained uninsured.
And during that program, only 20,000 Wisconsinites
actually were covered through the high-risk pool.
The third thing that I think is most shocking
is that in 2010, the Wisconsin high-risk pool program
operated at a loss of $17 million.
And the subsequent year, 2011,
it operated at a loss of $7 million.
So we're looking at
a loss of $24 million over a two-year time period.
I think that people would be shocked if they knew that.
- So -- - Also, --
- I was just going to say, so it concerns you,
the idea that going back to that kind
of high-risk pool insurance plan that we had in Wisconsin.
But I want to just interject and say he did say that our country
has decided to protect people with pre-existing conditions.
So does that give you some solace,
that he acknowledges that?
- No, because what I think we've learned over time
is that words-- the words are not ringing true.
Pre-existing conditions, everyone is affected by that.
Either they themselves have a pre-existing condition
or their loved one does.
In the United States,
there are 52 million people under the age of 65
who have pre-existing conditions for which
they would not have qualified for any insurance or coverage
prior to the ACA coming into effect.
- Now --
- And those-- an example of pre-existing--
- Yeah. Go ahead.
- An example of pre-existing conditions can be
acne, diabetes, heart conditions and in my case breast cancer.
- Before the ACA, but after your diagnosis with breast
cancer, what were your insurance rates like?
- I took a look at my records, and for the three years after my
diagnosis -- my diagnosis of breast cancer was in 2011.
And it was breast cancer that had metastasized and spread into
my lymph nodes under my left arm.
For the three years after my diagnosis,
our health insurance premiums increased by over 50%
and my husband and I are small business owners,
so we have always paid 100% of our insurance premiums
in the individual market.
- On the ACA-- - But then after-- - Yeah.
- And through the ACA plan now,
our insurance premiums are substantially more affordable
and we also have a lower deductible.
- Now, what is it like at this point not knowing
what to expect going forward?
- Well, I imagine it's frightening.
It's frightening to me, but I imagine it's also frightening
to other people, especially the 52 million people
who have pre-existing conditions in this country.
They don't know if they're going to be covered.
We hear our leaders say, "Don't worry.
We're not going to harm you."
And yet their actions
are speaking louder than their words.
They're meeting in secrecy.
They're concocting some kind of plan.
They're trying to jam it down our throats
without any public hearing and without any public disclosure.
- Is this political for you?
- Frederica, access to affordable health care
transcends politics for me.
The Republicans are playing a political game
with the lives of Americans.
But this is not a game for me and for Americans.
This is life and death.
- What message, briefly, do you have for the crafters
of any repeal and replace bills?
- Well, Donald Trump called the Republicans' plan mean,
and I'd like to add to that.
And what I would add is that this plan,
this plan is inhumane, it's un-American
and it's contrary to any religious or spiritual belief
on this planet.
And there are five things I would ask that our elected
officials please, please do and that's this:
stop playing political games with Americans' lives.
Stop lying to us.
Start working in a truly bipartisan fashion.
Hold public hearings instead of cooking up harmful plans
in secret and trying to jam them down our throats.
And finally,
please perform your sworn duties to the American public to
ensure domestic tranquility and to promote the general welfare.
- Jennifer Edmondson from Appleton, we leave it there.
- Thank you.