GOP congressman: People who’ve led ‘good lives’ deserve lower health care costs

A GOP congressman’s comments on who should be eligible for affordable healthcare are the subject of a huge wave of backlash, after he suggested that people who are in dire need of healthcare simple failed to live “good lives.”

During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) was asked about an amendment he supports in the Obamacare repeal effort, allowing states to opt out of pre-existing conditions protections. Opponents of the amendment say it will result in older and sicker people paying higher premiums — a claim that Brooks didn’t deny.

“My understanding is that it will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool that helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy, you know, they are doing the things to keep their bodies healthy,” Brooks said. “And right now, those are the people who have done things the right way that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.”

“Now in fairness, a lot of these people with pre-existing conditions, they have those conditions through no fault of their own, and I think our society under those circumstances needs to help,” he continued.

“The challenge though is that it’s a tough balancing act between the higher cost of these mandates which denies people coverage because they can’t afford the health insurance policies anymore on the one and and having enough coverage to help those people who are truly in need, and it’s a very complicated question, and I’m sure over the years there will be different permutations of it, both in the past as we go forward.”

Brooks clarified that some people have pre-existing conditions through “no fault of their own,” and added that there should be a system in place to help them. What that system is he didn’t specify.

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Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.