Doug Jones plans health care swing through Alabama

Aug. 02--Democratic Sen. Doug Jones plans to travel Alabama this month to discuss health care issues, a major wing of Democrats' offense heading into the November elections.

Jones said in a conference call on Thursday that he would discuss pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion, and the opioid crisis, and criticized a Trump administration proposal to roll out short-term medical plans that would not have to cover people with pre-existing conditions or offer as many services.

"I think they're just junk that have no place," he said. "It's going to cost people in the long run. It's going to cost people a lot of money."

The events will begin in Birmingham on Friday, with a roundtable discussion on opioids.

Jones made health care a major part of his successful run for U.S. Senate last year, expressing strong support for the Affordable Care Act when Republicans threatened to it last year, calling on the state to expand Medicaid.

"We're leaving billions of dollars on the table, and (voters) ought to be asking gubernatorial and legislative candidates, 'What are you going to do about health care services in Alabama?" he said Thursday.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Walt Maddox and many legislative candidates for the party say they would focus on health care if they win election.

Jones also highlighted Alabama-bound money from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including funding going to littoral combat ships in Mobile and funding for fighters at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. He praised Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont for helping move the budget process forward.

Conservative judicial activists have targeted the junior senator from Alabama, trying to win confirmation for Brett Kavanaugh, the U.S. Circuit Judge nominated by Trump to the U.S. Supreme Court. Jones said he was reviewing "a large amount of material" on Kavanaugh, though he declined to say what factors he was weighing in his decision.

Democrats in the Senate have been demanding documents from Kavanaugh's time as staff secretary to President George W. Bush as part of the vetting process. Jones said he supports those efforts, citing the recent withdrawal of the judicial nomination of Ryan Bounds after college writings surfaced in which he mocked multiculturalism and argued that there should be a higher burden of proof in sexual assault cases.

"I think when you're talking about a Supreme Court nominee in his early 50s who could be on the bench 20 or 30 years, we need to look at his 20 or 30-year body of work, whatever it is," Jones said.

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