Arizona Democratic senatorial candidate Kyrsten Sinema posted a campaign ad lamenting that “Arizonans can’t afford their health care” on YouTube after touting her role in shaping the Affordable Care Act.
“Some people don’t have [health care],” Sinema said in the ad released Monday. “Those who do have it are paying too much.”
Sinema was on a “national team of state elected officials who worked to help craft” the Affordable Care Act before it passed in 2010, according to OnTheIssues.org.
Average individual market premiums in Arizona jumped from $211 to $611 per month from 2013 to 2017, while Sinema was serving as the representative from Arizona’s 9th Congressional District. That increase is higher than the average increase from $232 to $476 per month, based on numbers from 39 Healthcare.gov states in a 2017 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report.
Sinema is running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. Her party primary is Aug. 28, and she hopes to beat her Republican rivals to turn the state blue. She has tried to present herself as a centrist and said she avoids using the term “universal health care.”
“I used to say that I wanted universal health-care coverage in Arizona, which went over like a ton of bricks,” Sinema wrote in 2009. “Turns out, Arizonans hear the word ‘universal’ and think ‘socialism.’ … But when I say that I want all Arizonans to have access to affordable, quality health care.”
When asked about the Affordable Care Act during a congressional election debate in 2012, Sinema said she would have cast a vote for Obamacare. (RELATED: Arizona Democratic Senate Candidate Turns On Schumer, ‘Won’t Vote For Him’ As Leader)
“As many folks in Arizona know, I worked hard to help shape that law to fit Arizonans’ needs,” Sinema said. “There are some important parts of the law that must be protected. Protections for kids with preexisting conditions like autism or Down syndrome, protections for folks who are diagnosed with diseases like breast cancer. … What we need is not a repeal … but what we do need is bipartisan action.”
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Sinema’s office for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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