DCCC: Evan Jenkins’ Transparent Hypocrisy an Insult to West Virginia Families

WASHINGTON, June 9 -- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued the following news release:

When a politician-for-hire like Evan Jenkins is willing to say anything to try and win an election, he is going to run into some problems. Today's case in point: Evan Jenkins is touting benefits offered in the Affordable Care Act for children with autism, after vowing to "lead efforts to repeal Obamacare (http://evanjenkins.com/issue/obamacare/)." Jenkins has not proposed or supported any credible legislation to keep the benefits, and if he had his way, they would be eliminated tomorrow.

In fact, Jenkins' repeal of the ACA would let insurance companies deny coverage for West Virginia children with pre-existing conditions (http://hdwg.org/sites/default/files/ACAsidebyside-catalystctr.pdf), while The Charleston Gazette wrote that Jenkins' previous flip-flop on healthcare reform "raises some troubling ethics questions (http://www.wvha.org/Media/News-Center/NewsScan/2014/2-18-Editorial-Flip-flop-Jenkins-questioned.aspx)."

"The transparent hypocrisy in Evan Jenkins' new ad is exactly what you'd expect from a politician-for-hire like Jenkins who is only interested in helping himself," said David Bergstein of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Jenkins will say anything to try and get to Washington in order to push the agenda of his out-of-state, billionaire backers - helping the ultra-wealthy and corporations that ship jobs overseas and lay off West Virginia's working families. Jenkins has always sacrificed his alleged principles in favor of his political ambitions, which is why West Virginia families don't trust Jenkins to look out for them."

BACKGROUND:

Jenkins Promised to "Lead Efforts To Repeal Obamacare." In 2014, Jenkins' campaign website promised he would repeal the Affordable Care Act: "As the disastrous implementation of Obama's health law has proved, this is a classic boondoggle that will greatly damage our health care system. Evan will lead efforts to repeal ObamaCare " [evanjenkins.com, accessed 6/09/14 (http://evanjenkins.com/issue/obamacare/)]

ACA Repeal Would Let Insurance Companies Deny Coverage for Children With Preexisting Conditions. The Affordable Care Act prohibited insurance companies from denying or limiting coverage to children based on a pre-existing condition like a disability. According to the Catalyst Center, the year before the act passed, 20,000 applications for children's coverage were denied due to preexisting conditions. [Catalyst Center, 2/2011 (http://hdwg.org/sites/default/files/ACAsidebyside-catalystctr.pdf)]

Charleston Gazette Reporter: Relevant to Mention Jenkins' Support of ACA Repeal. In response to the ad, Charleston Gazette reporter David Gutman tweeted: "it would seem relevant to mention that he still supports repeal of ACA, and thus ban on disc. against pre-existing conditions." [@davidlgutman, 6/09/14 (https://twitter.com/davidlgutman/status/476003964287483904)]

Charleston Gazette: Jenkins Flip-Flop on Health Care Reform "Raises Some Troubling Ethics Questions." "The new Republican's campaign website says: "Evan knows that Obamacare will cost trillions, raise premiums and kill jobs." Yet Jenkins backed most ACA breakthroughs when he was a Democrat. Universal health care should be a human right for everyone. Did Jenkins support that principle as a Democrat, and oppose it now that he's a Republican? Labor leader Millne is correct: The 2014 campaign raises some troubling ethics questions." [Charleston Gazette, 2/18/14 (http://www.wvha.org/Media/News-Center/NewsScan/2014/2-18-Editorial-Flip-flop-Jenkins-questioned.aspx)]

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