Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly and his Republican challenger Mike Braun clashed over their views on health care in the final debate of the Indiana Senate race.
Mr. Donnelly said the fate of health care coverage is on the line, warning that Mr. Braun backs efforts to unwind the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that would bring an end the law’s most popular provisions, including protections for pre-existing conditions.
Mr. Braun countered that Mr. Donnelly was wrong to support the “Unaffordable Care Act” and that “career politicians” like the incumbent Democrat are standing in the way of strengthening the system.
The debate in Indiana also featured libertarian candidate Lucy Brenton and came a week out from the Nov. 6 election.
Democrats are hoping their messaging on health care can help them defend Senate seats in red states that President Trump won in 2016.
They have focused in on a state-driven lawsuit from GOP leaders that claims Congress’s decision to gut the “individual mandate” in Obamacare should invalidate the rest of the program, including its protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
“Mike supports a lawsuit that would end the Affordable Care Act, that would end [coverage] for pre-existing conditions,” Mr. Donnelly said in the hour-long debate hosted by the Indiana Debate Commission. “So all of you watching out their tonight, if you have someone in your family with diabetes, with arthritis, with asthma, their coverage goes away if Mike’s lawsuit is successful.”
“That’s how important this is,” he said. “Those are the facts and he can’t deny that.”
Mr. Braun said Obamacare was doomed from the get-go and said he is better positioned to strengthen the system after providing health care coverage to employees at his auto parts distribution company.
“Regardless of what his Democratic talking points are I would never be for any replacement that doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions and that has no cap on coverage,” Mr. Braun said. “You will get that out of me and I did it on my own.”
“Joe blows in the wind on this stuff and you can’t count on him for what you are going to do to actually lower costs,” he said. “I am the only one in the real world that actually does it.”
Mr. Donnelly is one of the most vulnerable Democrats running for re-election.
Political handicappers have rated the race in Indiana as a “toss-up” and the latest Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Mr. Donnelly and Mr. Braun are locked in a neck-and-neck race.
The debate featured questions regarding the national debt and climate change as well as their views on abortion and immigration.
Mr. Donnelly and Mr. Braun shied away from siding with Mr. Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship after the president announced earlier in the day that he plans to end the practice through executive order.
Both men said they would want to see the like-minded legislation that South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham plans to introduce before deciding how they would vote on such a measure.
“I will wait-and-see what the discussion is on it, and if Lindsey Graham is introducing it, I think it will be something I will take a look at,” Mr. Braun said. “I am not going to say if I support it or not until I read the legislation.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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