Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell turned down an offer to meet with more than 15 patient advocacy groups to keep the details of his healthcare bill a secret from people with preexisting conditions.
The LA Times reported, “This week, a group of more than 15 patients groups — including the American Heart Assn., the March of Dimes, the American Lung Assn. and the American Diabetes Assn. — asked McConnell’s office to meet with them next week, proposing anytime between Friday and June 22. A representative from McConnell’s office told them staff schedules were too busy, according to representatives of several of the organizations.”
The reason why McConnell and his didn’t want to meet with these groups is that they can’t afford to let people know what is in their healthcare bill. This legislation is likely to be awful for people with preexisting conditions, so the Senate Majority is not going to sit down and tell these groups that many of the people they are advocating for and represent are going to lose their coverage or they will need to spend more money for less care.
The next time Sen. McConnell or any member of his Senate majority starts rattling on about “patient-centered care” remember that McConnell refused to meet with the patients that he is supposedly empowering and protecting. Mitch McConnell has been the tool of the right wing billionaires and corporations for his entire political career, but it takes a special level of callousness to refuse to sit down with representatives of people who stand to lose their health care, because of a secret bill you are writing.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Even by Mitch McConnell’s standards, this is a new low.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
