Does Affordable Health Care help or hurt? Republican Hultgren, Democrat Underwood disagree

Both candidates for U.S. Congress in the 14th District say they have at times secured their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

But the health care similarities between Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren and Democratic challenger Lauren Underwood end there.

Underwood, a 32-year-old registered nurse and health policy expert from Naperville, said she was inspired to launch her campaign after Hultgren voted in May 2017 to support the American Health Care Act, which she says would have allowed insurance companies to charge higher prices for people with pre-existing conditions to receive coverage.

Hultgren, 52, of Plano, says that's a misunderstanding because he always has worked to preserve coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. But he says the Affordable Care Act is raising premiums and out-of-pocket costs for 14th District families, many of whom have only one insurer, not multiple choices, available on the insurance exchange.

"It just doesn't work," Hultgren said of the nation's health care law, enacted in 2010. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 20,300 people in the 14th District are enrolled in health insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchange. "We're hearing so many families who've been hurt by this."

Hultgren and Underwood met for an endorsement interview Friday afternoon with the Daily Herald editorial board in Arlington Heights.

The candidates are squaring off to represent the 14th Congressional District, which includes parts of DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, and long has been considered a Republican stronghold in northern Illinois.

Hultgren said he wants to improve health care by allowing people to purchase plans across state lines, as they can with car or life insurance, and by working to increase the number of options available in the exchange.

He also said he supports increased availability of waivers from Affordable Care Act rules for states that prove they can provide coverage more cheaply and efficiently under their own policies. Waivers right now, he said, are "almost impossible to access."

"If a state can show that they can keep pre-existing conditions, lower costs, make (health care) more available for more people, then they could get access to the waiver from the Affordable Care Act mandates and cost," he said.

Underwood, however, questions Hultgren's true support for attainable coverage regardless of a person's medical history and says she would be the candidate to act - not just speak - to ensure affordable coverage and care. Underwood has a heart condition, which she said makes the pre-existing conditions issue personal to her. She said price discrimination - not just access to coverage plans - is a major point of concern.

Underwood said the American Health Care Act would have removed a provision in the Affordable Care Act that prevents companies from charging more to insure patients who are sick or have chronic conditions.

"Just because an insurance company will offer a plan to somebody with a pre-existing condition, if they are allowed to charge 20, 30, 200 times what they would charge someone else, that is not affordable or accessible coverage," Underwood said. "The facts are that the Affordable Care Act allows for individuals to access a plan regardless of their medical history."

To improve issues with high costs for patients, Underwood said the government should better fund a pool of money that can balance some liabilities for insurance companies if they happen to take on more patients whose care costs are higher.

"By properly funding that program, which was authorized in the initial legislation ... I think that we will see a significant increase in competition and choice on the marketplace," she said.

Underwood also said the federal government should give itself permission to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, which could help lower costs.

Friday's endorsement session with Underwood and Hultgren could turn out to be one of the opponents' only head-to-head meetings before the Nov. 6 election.

In recent contests, Hultgren, who has held the seat since winning it from Democrat Bill Foster in 2010, hasn't engaged in debates with Democratic opponents.

Underwood advanced to face Hultgren after claiming nearly 60 percent of the vote in a crowded Democratic primary this spring featuring six other candidates.