August 20, 2014 12:20 PM UTC

Time for Gardner to back up his "Obamascare" story

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• by: ProgressNow Colorado

(Drip, drip, drip – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

​As questions continue to grow about the details of U.S. Senate candidate Cory Gardner's health insurance, which Gardner claims motivated him to run for the U.S. Senate, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, called on Gardner to fully disclose crucial details that would either verify or disprove his claims.

"Cory Gardner has repeatedly waved a 'cancellation letter' from his insurer–covered with black marker redactions of key details," said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Amy Runyon-Harms. "Today, reporters are asking questions about those redacted portions, and they're not getting answers. Could it be that Gardner is not being straight with the public about his 'Obamascare' horror story?"

Last week, 9NEWS in Denver conducted a Truth Test of Gardner's latest ad, in which he tells the story of his health insurance plan being 'cancelled.' But when 9NEWS attempted to verify the details of Gardner's claim, "the campaign declined to provide evidence of the previous price or any details about the level of coverage and deductibles under the prior plan." 9NEWS concluded, "And was this the only policy for the entire family? As for the congressman's personal story, you should take it with a grain of salt because we don't have all the details." [1]

"Cory Gardner's claims about his supposedly 'cancelled' health insurance plan have never added up," said Runyon-Harms. "The fact is, over 90% of Colorado policyholders who received so-called 'cancellation notices' received policy renewal instructions in the same letter. [2] [3] Gardner has claimed that the 'comparable' replacement plan he was offered was twice as much, but that's impossible to confirm if Gardner won't disclose the details of his old plan. Gardner has been asked to provide the full details of his insurance plans for months, and he has refused even as questions have grown about his story."

"It's time for Con Man Cory Gardner to put up or shut up," said Runyon-Harms. "We call on Gardner to immediately release the full details of his old health insurance plan: deductibles, coverages, premiums, everything. Gardner also must disclose any other insurance he or his family may have carried during this period. There have been too many 'Obamascare' horror stories that have been proven false once the facts came out. Coloradans deserve to know if the reason Gardner says he is running for Senate today is nothing more than a giant con job."