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TPM Last night was Ossoff v Handel first debate ahead of the runoff, the two candidates butted heads in a charged exchange about the effort to repeal Obamacare underway in Congress.
Republican Karen Handel defended the House GOP’s American Health Care Act in Tuesday night’s debate, hosted by Atlanta TV station WSB, arguing that the current system under Obamacare is “collapsing.” She dismissed an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office projecting that 23 million Americans would end up losing their health insurance under the House bill.
“I reject the premise of the CBO,” she said, adding that the CBO was wrong about Obamacare’s impacts.
Democrat Jon Ossoff criticized Handel for backing a bill “that would gut the protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.” He also brought up his opponent’s role in the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to cut off its funding for Planned Parenthood.
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Handel also stressed that she did not “singularly” decide that the Komen foundation would stop funding Planned Parenthood.
“I will not be lectured by you or anyone else,” she told Ossoff.
In response, Ossoff charged that Handel campaigned in 2012 on her role in cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood and noted that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported that Handel “engineered” the move, which resulted in disastrous PR for the organization.
Although Handel argues the AHCA offers protection for preexisting conditions, a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, however, found that under a waiver option the American Health Care Act offers states, there are more than six million people that are vulnerable to being charged more by insurers because they both have a preexisting condition and a lapse in insurance coverage.
Discussions are underway for 3 more debates. Ossoff declined a nationwide CNN debate.
