See below for a press release from the Virginia Democrats, as well as a response from Nick Freitas’ 2019 Democratic House of Delegates opponent, Ann Ridgeway, regarding his horrendous record on health care…
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Virginia Democrats blast Nick Freitas’s disastrous health care record on Medicaid and Medicare’s 55th anniversary
RICHMOND — 55 years ago today, President Johnson signed into law the bill that led to creation of Medicare and Medicaid. These vital programs provide health care to tens of millions of Americans every year. And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Virginia Democrats voted to expand Medicaid in 2018, which has brought coverage to an additional 441,000 Virginians so far.
But Republican Delegate Nick Freitas, running for Congress in Virginia’s 7th Congressional district, has consistently tried to undermine Medicaid, opposing affordable health care for tens of thousands of people he hopes to represent. On today’s anniversary, Virginia Democrats slammed Freitas’s abysmal record on health care:
“Nick Freitas has never let a good policy get in the way of his extreme right-wing voting record, and health care is no exception. While other Republicans joined Democrats to literally save lives by expanding Medicaid, Freitas held out. During a global pandemic, Nick Freitas’s goals of repealing the ACA and ending Medicaid expansion would be an outright disaster for tens of thousands of people in Virginia’s 7th district,” said DPVA Communications Director Grant Fox.
As a Delegate, Freitas repeatedly opposed Medicaid expansion in Virginia. He even criticized members of his own party for voting for the expansion in a Facebook Live video this year. Medicaid expansion has been particularly valuable to Virginians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the state shows that over 40,000 new enrollees have gained access to Medicaid in the past three months alone.
Freitas also has a vocal history of opposition to the Affordable Care Act and has vowed to fully repeal the law. In 2018 he called the law a “cancer” and promised to abolish it. Full repeal of the ACA would mean 642,000 Virginians — including 74,000 in VA-7 — would lose their health coverage, and nearly 3.5 million Virginians would see their protections for preexisting conditions disappear. |
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And from Ann Ridgeway:
In response to, “Nick Freitas has fought tooth and nail against protecting consumers from higher drug costs like insulin his entire elected career. While Nick Freitas may not remember his lonely vote for higher insulin prices, Virginia Republicans and Democrats still do.”
Last year I ran against Nick Freitas for the House of Delegates. One of the major issues on my platform was to lower prescription drugs and I campaigned to put a cap of $30.00 on insulin prices. I was happy to see Delegate Lee Carter pick up this fight with his legislation HB 066.
Nick Freitas never mentioned any healthcare issues in his campaign. He not only missed the first reading of HB066, he was one of 4 delegates that voted against it. Freitas has a history of voting against anything to do with healthcare. Click here to see Brenda Clements, the Director of the Madison Free Clinic, telling her truth about her conversation with Freitas on healthcare.
It is imperative we lower the cost of all prescriptions so people with preexisting conditions can get affordable health insurance.
This is just one of the ways Freitas did not represent all of the people of the 30th District. I invite you to follow on Facebook @RidgewayforVA30, Twitter and Instagram and/or request to join our email list at ridgewayforVa30@gmail.com. We will soon be presenting a series: “Freitas Truths: What He Did Not Do in Richmond to Represent the People of the 30th District.”
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