McCaskill launches campaign targeting Hawley on health care

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is stepping up her focus on health care with a series of videos intended to rebuke her Republican opponent, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, for a lawsuit targeting the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The campaign, called “30 for 30,” will feature stories from a new Missourian with a pre-existing condition each day for 30 days.

The first video in the series, which highlights a woman with sickle cell disease, is set for release Tuesday. In it, Tanjila Bolden describes her condition and talks about the peril she could face if she loses insurance coverage.

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“In the instant that my health insurance was affected to where I was not able to get this medication, that would be detrimental and it could be deadly,” Bolden says.

Hawley was among 20 state attorneys general who signed onto a lawsuit filed earlier this year that seeks to block the implementation of the ACA, former President Obama’s signature health-care law. 

If a judge grants the request to block the law, insurance companies would be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Missouri Democrats have argued that halting the law would effectively strip health care from 2.5 million people in their state alone. 

“When I heard about this lawsuit to undermine protections for pre-existing conditions, I was irritated to say the least, because I felt like whoever was running around trying to get this lawsuit going … you’ve never gone through anything,” Bolden says in the video. 

“You’ve never experienced anything in your life that has required help.”

Democrats on the campaign trail have gone on the offensive in recent months on the issue of health care, targeting Republicans who they say want to do away with the ACA’s pre-existing conditions protections and other facets of the law.

McCaskill is vying for reelection against Hawley in a state that President Trump won in 2016 by more than 18 points, and is considered among the most vulnerable Senate Democrats seeking reelection in 2018. The Cook Political Report, an election handicapper, currently rates the race as a toss-up.