Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Monday that, while Democrats appear to want to make Obamacare and pre-existing conditions a focus of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the reality is that “every single member of the Senate agrees that pre-existing conditions can and should be protected.”
In his opening statement during the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings for Barrett, Cruz succinctly summarized that Republicans not only intend to protect the insurance coverage of Americans with pre-existing conditions, but also to bring down the cost of health insurance premiums — something Obamacare failed to do.
Cruz said:
Many of our colleagues talked about pre-existing conditions, and I think they have made a political decision they want this to be the central issue of the confirmation. Well, remember this: every single member of the Senate agrees that pre-existing conditions can and should be protected. Period. The end. There is complete unanimity on this.
Now, it so happens that there are a number of us on the Republican side, that also want to see premiums go down. Obamacare has caused premiums to skyrocket. The average family’s premiums have risen over $5,000 a year. Millions of Americans can’t afford health care because of the policy failures of Obamacare.
Cruz said the proper place to deal with questions of health insurance policy is the Congress. He criticized Democrats who “simply want a promise from a judicial nominee … to implement their policy vision of healthcare.”
“That is not a judge’s job,” the senator asserted. “That is not the responsibility of a judge. In fact, making that promise would be violating the judicial oath.”
Cruz added that, while he cannot say how the Supreme Court will rule on a case concerning the constitutionality of Obamacare, arguments for which it will hear on November 10, “I do know that this body should be the one resolving the competing policy questions at issue.”
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