In South Texas congressional race, Monica De La Cruz and Michelle Vallejo spar over well being care

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In one in every of her current TV adverts, Democrat Michelle Vallejo accuses Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz of two unforgivable political sins: jeopardizing Social Safety and Medicare, and dealing in opposition to efforts to decrease well being care and prescription drug costs.

The costs are leveled by three ladies from De La Cruz’s fifteenth Congressional District, who inform viewers, “In South Texas, you keep your word. That’s why I can’t vote for Monica De La Cruz. She broke her promises to us.”

However De La Cruz hotly disputes the claims, which the advert attributes to proposals from her Republican colleagues aimed toward stopping Medicare and Social Safety from going broke. De La Cruz mentioned she views the entitlements as “​​vital lifelines for our seniors.”

The talk is one in every of a number of methods by which well being care points are taking part in an outsized function in one in every of Texas’ solely aggressive congressional races this 12 months, at the same time as immigration and the financial system stay prime of thoughts for a lot of voters. Past Social Safety and Medicare, which give retirement advantages and well being protection to seniors, De La Cruz can also be heading off assaults over her assist for Texas’ abortion ban, as Vallejo and nationwide Democrats look to grab on backlash sparked by high-profile circumstances of ladies leaving the state to obtain medical take care of life-threatening being pregnant issues.

Vallejo, in the meantime, is grappling together with her previous embrace of Medicare for All, a single-payer system that would supply common protection by changing nearly all present private and non-private medical health insurance plans with one government-run program. Vallejo backed the proposal when she ran for Congress in 2022, as a part of a progressive platform that helped her emerge from a crowded major, earlier than shedding to De La Cruz in November by 8.5 proportion factors. For the rematch this cycle, Vallejo has dropped the difficulty from her lexicon, pushing extra broadly for a system that “limits the power and influence of insurance companies” and permits extra individuals to entry reasonably priced care.

Each candidates, in actual fact, have touted methods of increasing protection to extra residents. The district is anchored in Hidalgo County, the place almost one in three residents lack medical health insurance protection — the best price of any main county in Texas and greater than 3 times the nationwide price. The general uninsured price of the district — which runs via rural South Texas as much as Guadalupe County east of San Antonio — can also be almost one in three.

Vallejo usually refers back to the struggles her mom endured when in search of take care of a number of sclerosis, which she battled for 15 years earlier than dying at age 46. Vallejo’s household couldn’t afford care in america, so they might usually journey to Mexico the place docs and drugs are cheaper.

“No one should have to cross the border into Mexico for affordable medical care and treatment, but that’s the reality in South Texas,” Vallejo mentioned in a press release, including that the nation’s well being care system is “broken and leaves many South Texans uninsured, underinsured, and one trip to the hospital away from bankruptcy.”

Among the many fixes, Vallejo mentioned, can be for the Texas Legislature to develop Medicaid to incorporate extra low-income, uninsured Texans. Texas, the state with the most important proportion and complete variety of uninsured individuals, is one in every of 10 states that has not expanded protection below the Reasonably priced Care Act, making a “coverage gap” for many who make an excessive amount of cash to qualify for Medicaid however not sufficient to obtain backed protection within the Reasonably priced Care Act market.

Texas Republicans say this system encourages authorities dependence and is poorly managed, making it not definitely worth the crimson tape that might include growth. Democrats insist the opposition is rooted within the politics of opposing something linked to former President Barack Obama.

Vallejo mentioned she would “fight to expand Medicaid” however didn’t specify whether or not that meant passing federal laws that might power the GOP-controlled Legislature to take action.

Vallejo additionally says she helps increasing Medicare to cowl a wider vary of medical wants, corresponding to long-term care, listening to, and extra sorts of dental care.

Requested about her stance on Medicare for All, Vallejo didn’t explicitly embrace the proposal but in addition appeared to go away the door open to it, saying, “I am committed to expanding quality, affordable health care for the people and families of TX-15 by any means possible.”

De La Cruz mentioned she wasn’t shopping for Vallejo’s moderated method to the difficulty.

“Michelle Vallejo cannot hide from the fact that she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with [Vermont Sen.] Bernie Sanders in supporting a radical socialist government takeover of health care, which would devastate local hospitals and eliminate private medical care in America,” De La Cruz mentioned. “That’s not what South Texans want.”

For her half, De La Cruz mentioned she has sought to develop well being care entry by signing onto payments aimed toward bolstering telehealth entry for rural residents needing specialty care and eliminating wait intervals for metastatic breast most cancers sufferers to entry advantages. She additionally opposes the Biden administration’s modest reduce in base funds to insurers for Medicare Benefit plans, that are administered by personal insurers backed with authorities funding.

De La Cruz additionally pointed to a invoice she launched final 12 months, the Wholesome Infants Act, that might remove what she referred to as “an unnecessary rule” that forestalls low-income households from utilizing federal advantages to purchase child meals that mixes sure elements.

“By cutting red tape and making common-sense reforms, we can make sure our families and seniors have the support and care they need,” De La Cruz mentioned of her invoice, which stalled in a Home committee and didn’t make it to the ground.

Although none of those points by themselves are prone to resolve the election, well being care has confirmed to be a potent political problem in previous elections. In 2018, Democrats received plenty of seats in Congress by hammering Republicans for making an attempt to scrap the Reasonably priced Care Act and arguing the GOP would imperil protection for preexisting circumstances.

A examine revealed earlier this month by College of Texas at Austin researchers discovered that Latino voters across the nation are pushed by well being care and the financial system greater than every other points. Hispanic residents make up about three-quarters of the eligible voting-age inhabitants in Texas’ fifteenth Congressional District, in accordance with U.S. Census Bureau information.

In a UnidosUS ballot from August, well being care and abortion trailed solely inflation, jobs and immigration as crucial points amongst Hispanic Texans. Within the Rio Grande Valley, 72% of Hispanic voters mentioned they agreed with the assertion that it’s “wrong to make abortion illegal,” no matter their private beliefs concerning the process.

Senior advantages and abortion

One of many largest subjects within the Vallejo-De La Cruz contest recently has been Vallejo’s advert attacking De La Cruz on Medicare and Social Safety.

To make the case that De La Cruz is threatening the entitlements, the advert cites early 2023 reporting on Home GOP proposals to repair Medicare and Social Safety funding gaps — together with elevating the age of eligibility and providing extra flexibility to make use of private-sector plans. Republicans mentioned the adjustments wouldn’t have an effect on present members and had been wanted to make sure the applications’ continued existence, whereas Democrats blasted the proposals, accusing the GOP of pursuing dangerous profit cuts.

Across the similar time, some Republicans additionally backed a plan to steadiness the federal price range inside a decade, which Democrats and some economists argue can be all however not possible with out touching the entitlement applications.

De La Cruz, weeks into her first time period, didn’t suggest any of the adjustments, although earlier than becoming a member of Congress, she voiced assist for permitting new employees to put money into their very own privately funded retirement accounts, reasonably than pay into Social Safety.

The measures cited in Vallejo’s advert, nevertheless, didn’t come up for votes within the Home, and De La Cruz’s most important connection seems to be her membership within the Republican Research Committee — a caucus that features De La Cruz and about 80% of all Home Republicans — whose management proposed most of the adjustments to Social Safety and Medicare.

De La Cruz disputed the advert’s claims in a press release, noting that she co-sponsored a invoice final 12 months that might exempt Social Safety and Medicare from the U.S. authorities’s statutory debt restrict.

“Let me be absolutely clear: I strongly oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare,” she mentioned. “My radical opponent is lying about my stance on seniors’ benefits the same way she is misleading voters on her position on border security,” referring to Vallejo’s toughened posture on immigration.

Vallejo’s advert additionally referred to a plan earlier this 12 months from the Republican Research Committee to take away Medicare’s capacity to barter prescription drug prices and finish a month-to-month cap on insulin. De La Cruz didn’t take a agency place on the difficulty when requested the place she stands.

“If negotiating drug prices can reduce costs without stifling innovation or limiting access to life-saving medications, it’s worth studying,” she mentioned. “However, we must remain cautious of unintended consequences, such as reduced investment in research and development.”

Andrew Smith, a political science professor on the College of Texas Rio Grande Valley, mentioned the advert may resonate among the many district’s sizable inhabitants of retirees or these near retirement age.

“Regardless of the merits of her attack, I do think she believes that she can peel off voters that might be perhaps turned off by her previous more liberal stances on border security,” Smith mentioned, including that the difficulty will probably be overshadowed by subjects just like the financial system but may make simply sufficient distinction to swing an in depth race.

Vallejo has additionally centered her assaults on De La Cruz’s abortion stance, pointing to her previous assist for Texas’ abortion ban, which lacks exceptions for circumstances of rape and incest. If elected, Vallejo says she needs to “restore the rights guaranteed to women for more than 50 years under Roe v. Wade,” which protected abortion till the purpose when a fetus can survive outdoors the womb — round 22 to 24 weeks. Vallejo didn’t say whether or not she thinks the Senate filibuster needs to be eradicated to codify Roe.

“The decision if and when to start a family is between a woman, her doctor, and her faith, not politicians like Monica De La Cruz,” Vallejo mentioned.

De La Cruz beforehand ran for Congress touting her anti-abortion views, together with her marketing campaign web site’s points web page that includes a “Pro-Life” part the place she vowed to “always support the sanctity of life.” Her web page now not mentions the difficulty, as The Every day Beast first reported earlier this 12 months.

De La Cruz mentioned she considers abortion “a deeply sensitive issue that demands a balanced and compassionate approach.”

“I believe this matter should be decided at the state level, and I hope that states will adopt policies that protect both innocent human life and the rights of women,” De La Cruz mentioned in a press release. “Like President Reagan, I believe in exceptions for women facing heartbreaking circumstances, and I strongly support the right of every single American to start a beautiful family through IVF.”