KS-Sen: “Marshall (R) campaign staff relying on Affordable Care Act provision for health coverage”
From The Kansas City-Star:
The bulk of Kansas Republican Rep. Roger Marshall’s Senate campaign team have health insurance because of the law their boss and other Republicans have repeatedly sought to repeal.
Marshall’s campaign staff are independent contractors rather than employees. It means that the campaign does not have to pay thousands in payroll taxes on their salaries or provide them health benefits.
But because most of them are 26 or younger, they can stay on their parents’ health insurance plans under a provision in the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
Quick reminder on Marshall’s record:
Since arriving in Congress Marshall has, like most House Republicans, voted largely in line with party leadership. Former Rep. Kevin Yoder, who served with Marshall and supports his bid for Senate, said he “has been one of the most important figures in the GOP effort to replace Obamacare with patient-centered health care legislation.”
Early in his first term, Marshall faced backlash when he quoted a Bible verse that “the poor will always be with us” and suggested to the medical magazine Stat that some people don’t want health care.
“All I was trying to say is that doctors and hospitals have always stood up in the moment of need to take care of the poor. And I have a long history of doing that,” Marshall said, acknowledging that he did not express himself clearly.
Marshall later chaired a GOP task force that in 2019 proposed a plan that would keep the Affordable Care Act’s protections for preexisting conditions, but shift funding for premium subsidies to a state-administered grant program. Its aim was to help low-income people pay for insurance. The plan, which hasn’t received a floor vote, would also increase the allowable pre-tax contributions people can make health savings accounts.
This very provision could be struck down by the Supreme Court. Marshall is a big fan of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett:
Already, Roger Marshall says, her nomination has invigorated support for his campaign.“I think they're ready to get out and shout from the mountaintops,” Marshall said shortly before a private meet and greet in Wichita Sunday afternoon. “Just the number of signs we have flying out the door. We've already went through all of our yard signs that we thought we would need for the rest of the election.”His opponent, Barbara Bollier, says the nomination is just another sign of how badly Kansas needs a moderate in the Senate to work to keep the Supreme Court non-partisan.“It only emphasizes the importance of bringing a person who’s willing to work across aisles and not politicize the judiciary. That matters so much to the American people,” Bollier said during a campaign stop in Arkansas City on Friday.Political scientist from Wichita State University Dr. Neal Allen says that’s while this fight over the Supreme Court may invigorate the Republican and Democratic bases, it's not likely to make a big difference in the final vote, at least not in Kansas.
Bollier has been keeping health care a big focus in this race:
Let’s keep up the momentum to flip Kansas Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Bollier, Biden and their fellow Kansas Democrats campaigns:
