North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party: While Stenehjem Tries to Close Door on Health Care Access, President Biden Opens Special ACA Enrollment Window

BISMARCK, North Dakota, Feb. 17 -- The North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party issued the following news release on Feb. 15, 2021:

As part of President Biden's pledge to "Build Back Better", the White House announced today the immediate opening of a Special Health Insurance Enrollment period through Healthcare.gov. In a statement from the Oval Office, President Biden affirmed his commitment "to ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care - especially in the midst of a pandemic." Every American who needs health insurance coverage can sign up online from now through May 15th. We ask you to please share this information with as many people as possible so those who need health insurance coverage can get it now.

As our heroic frontline workers continue to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic, President Biden has held firm in the fight for an "American Rescue Plan" to be quickly enacted by Congress, which will include making health insurance coverage less costly, and more accessible for millions of Americans while ensuring the swift and effective distribution of vaccines to any individual who wants one, so we can safely embark on the road to economic recovery together faster.

Unfortunately, we do not have that same commitment to public health from our elected officials in North Dakota. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, our Congressional delegation, and the NDGOP supermajority continue to siphon taxpayer dollars to defend a reckless lawsuit that would strip tens of thousands of North Dakotans of their health care coverage. Most recently, Republicans in the state legislature voted against legislation sponsored by Sen. Tim Mathern (D-Fargo) that would have strengthened protections for North Dakotans with preexisting conditions, while addressing the out of control hospital costs that plague our state.

Democratic-NPL Chair Kylie Oversen said:

"After four years of relentless, underhanded attempts by Republican lawmakers to repeal the ACA by any means necessary, we finally have a President who is willing to do everything within his power to make health care affordable and accessible for the American people. We applaud President Biden and his administration for their tireless efforts to push public health and COVID-19 relief as top priorities during a time of tremendous personal sacrifice that you and your families have endured."

Oversen Continued:

"It takes a particularly vicious kind of indifference towards the people who elected you for a group of politicians to dedicate so much time and energy trying to take essential health care access away from everybody in the state - from the mailman to your own mother, particularly when it's needed the most. It's even more dishonorable to empty out the taxpayer's pockets in order to do it, at the same time they're receiving state health benefits on your dime. I honestly don't believe that the NDGOP will be completely satisfied until they've tapped all the wells, and left everyone here high and dry."