See below for two press release, the first from the Democratic Party of Virginia about how far-right-extremist Republican nominee Hung Cao is “out-of-touch with Virginians’ on health care, and the second from the Kaine campaign, “7 Days, 7 Ways Tim Kaine Stands Up For Virginia: Making Healthcare More Affordable.” Quite a contrast, and quite an easy choice to make if you haven’t already voted – go Tim Kaine!
7 Days, 7 Ways Hung Cao Is Out-Of-Touch: Health Care
Richmond, VA – In the final sprint toward Election Day, the DPVA is reminding Virginians for the next seven days how out-of-touch Hung Cao is with Virginians. And today’s “7 Days, 7 Ways Hung Cao Is Out-Of-Touch With Virginians” is on health care.
Hung Cao supports plans to make health care more expensive and out of reach for Virginia families. He vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would strip protections for 1.3 million Virginians with pre-existing conditions, increase taxes on hardworking Virginia families, and jeopardize health insurance for nearly 700,000 Virginians. He wants to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which would saddle Virginia families with higher prescription drug costs.
Not only are Hung Cao’s health care schemes wrong for Virginia, but he’s also shown he just doesn’t understand how health care can be expensive for many Virginians. Hung Cao said in an interview, “No one in the United States is like, ‘Oh my gosh, I will die if I don’t have health care.’” That couldn’t be further from the truth.
When asked to defend his out-of-touch comments, Cao doubled down, saying, “No, what I’m trying to say is just that everybody goes to the emergency room and you’ll always be taken care of.” Cao dug the hole deeper, showing he doesn’t understand going to the emergency room is significantly more expensive than preventive care and ignores the health care needs of rural Virginians, who have to travel significantly further than others to reach a hospital.
“Hung Cao wants to spike the cost of health care for Virginia families and jeopardize the health care coverage of hundreds of thousands of Virginians with a pre-existing condition,” said DPVA Chairwoman Susan Swecker. “This November, Virginians will give Hung Cao a bitter pill to swallow for his toxic health care agenda, which would raise premiums, hike prescription drug prices, and leave Virginians without the health care they need.”
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7 Days, 7 Ways Tim Kaine Stands Up For Virginia: Making Healthcare More Affordable
Richmond, VA – In the final stretch of this election, the Kaine for Virginia campaign is launching “7 Days, 7 Ways Tim Kaine Stands Up For Virginia” to highlight seven ways Senator Kaine puts Virginia first in the U.S. Senate. Today’s “7 Days, 7 Ways Tim Kaine Stands Up For Virginia” is about how Senator Kaine is making healthcare more affordable.
In 2017, Senator Kaine cast a deciding vote to preserve the Affordable Care Act, protecting the health care coverage of 1.3 million Virginians with pre-existing conditions and nearly 700,000 Virginians who were at risk of losing their health insurance.
Senator Kaine was a deciding vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which caps the out-of-pocket amount that seniors will have to pay for prescription drugs bought at the pharmacy at $2,000 a year, which will save an estimated 390,400 Virginia seniors an average of $441 per year. It also caps the amount that seniors will have to pay for insulin at $35 for a month’s supply, benefiting nearly 36,500 Virginians. The IRA also included a permanent extension of funding for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which provides benefits to miners, miner retirees, and their families.
In 2021, Kaine also cast a deciding vote to pass the American Rescue Plan, which lowered health insurance premiums for 308,000 Virginians, who saved an average of $848 per year on their health care.
He is leading the fight to lower health care premiums for all Virginians. Senator Kaine’s Medicare-X Choice Act would build on the historic Affordable Care Act by creating a Medicare Exchange public option plan in every county in America for individuals and small businesses – providing an additional, affordable option in all communities.
“From protecting the Affordable Care Act to lowering the cost of insulin and capping the amount seniors will pay for prescriptions drugs, Senator Kaine is dedicated to lowering healthcare costs for all Virginians,” said Michael Beyer, Communications Director for Kaine for Virginia. “He knows how much of a lifesaver affordable healthcare is for families, which is why he is fighting to make the $35 insulin cap available to all Virginians and lower health care premiums so that every person in the Commonwealth will have access to affordable health care.”