Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act, or TrumpCare, on a 217-213 vote.

The bill would end health care for 24 million Americans, dramatically increase insurance premiums by legalizing price discrimination against seniors, and repeal protections for those with pre-existing conditions – all while giving the wealthiest Americans a $600 billion tax cut. Cancer, diabetes, pregnancy, asthma, and more would all be pre-existing conditions for which insurance companies could discriminate against patients should TrumpCare become law.

45th Legislative District Republican candidate Jinyoung Englund has a long history of opposing the Affordable Care Act as a part of her career as a partisan political staffer for Republican politicians. Her own words make her position clear:

Englund Called For ACA To Be Replaced With “The Free Market”

In a tweet, Englund called for the Affordable Care Act to be replaced with “the free market”:

Under the “free market” that existed before the Affordable Care Act and that Englund called for the return to, health insurance premiums were increasing by an average of 18.5 percent a year and health insurance companies were allowed to deny coverage for a broad range of pre-existing conditions. Under this dangerous regime, medical debt was one of the largest drivers of bankruptcy, nearly 20 percent of the population was uninsured, and emergency rooms were one of the only sources of medical care for many Americans. 

Englund Described Passage of ACA as “Gotcha Moment”

In a tweet, Englund criticized the passage of the Affordable Care Act, describing it as a “gotcha moment”:


England’s opposition to the passage of the Affordable Care Act puts her solidly in line with Republican politicians she has worked for professionally, including Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Dino Rossi. 

But when it comes to pushing bills through Congress quickly, Republicans held their vote on the final version of the TrumpCare legislation on a day’s notice, with no committee hearings, no markups, no amendments allowed, no score from the Congressional Budget Office, and allotted only a couple of hours of debate on the House floor in a clear attempt to hide the consequences of the bill from the American people.

Englund Called TrumpCare Champion McMorris Rodgers Her Mentor

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was the only member of the Washington state Congressional delegation to vote for the TrumpCare bill, one of the co-sponsors of the Upton amendment representing the final version of the bill, and actively celebrated its passage after the House vote. 

Englund worked for McMorris Rodgers from January 2009 through August 2011, and publicly called McMorris Rodgers her “mentor”:

 

Englund’s own words make it clear that she is dangerously out of touch with the concerns and needs of Washingtonians, including 3 million people with pre-existing conditions who could be discriminated against should TrumpCare become law and 1.8 million people who could lose health care coverage they get through Medicaid or the health insurance exchange. 

“Jinyoung Englund’s own words have made her position clear – she’s going to stand with the conservative extremists who want to rip health care away from millions of Washingtonians and allow discrimination against women, seniors, and sick and disabled people,” said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski. “Her stance is dangerous, cruel, and it’s wildly out of touch with 45th district voters. She’s more concerned with the DC Republican party politics that she’s spent her career working in than the needs and concerns of families and communities here in Washington. We can’t afford to have Jinyoung Englund in the Senate.”

England’s conservative positions should be no surprise given she spent her career as a political staffer for the Republican Party and politicians, and that she moved to the 45th district just days before announcing for office. Donald Trump received just 28 percent of the vote in the 45th legislative district in the 2016 general election.