The “MORE Health Education Act,” a bill aimed at increasing education and outreach about federal health insurance exchanges, was passed in a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in May without Rep. Elise Stefanik’s vote.

Tedra Cobb of Canton, a Democrat making a second run against the Republican incumbent for the North Country’s 21st Congressional District seat, said she wants voters to know her opponent voted against the bill.

“Yesterday Cong. Stefanik voted against H.R. 987, the ‘MORE Health Education Act,’ a bill that would reverse the Trump administration’s relentless attack on the Affordable Care Act, solidify protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and train healthcare navigators to better inform consumers about addiction recovery services,” said a statement from Cobb’s office.

According to www.congress.gov, “This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct outreach and educational activities regarding federally facilitated exchanges (i.e., health insurance exchanges that are established and operated within states by HHS). The activities must inform potential enrollees of the availability of coverage and related financial assistance under the exchanges and must be provided in culturally and linguistically appropriate formats.”

“It is inexcusable that Elise Stefanik voted against this bill,” said Cobb. “New York 21 has some of the highest opioid deaths per capita in the state; our families are desperate for help. Providing healthcare navigators the resources necessary to help families understand their coverage is the least we can do. Stefanik has spent a great deal of time talking about this crisis, but when presented with a plan that could help save lives, she turns her back on us.”

Stefanik, a Republican from Schuylerville, is serving her third term in Congress having defeated Cobb last November in her closest race yet.

“Elise Stefanik has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance and pharmaceutical companies and continues to vote their way,” the statement from Cobb’s campaign said. “Stefanik’s 2014 campaign received funds from Purdue Pharmaceutical, a company that is alleged to have used deceptive marketing to hide the dangers of the drugs they produced.”

“Stefanik has played politics in D.C. her entire career,” said Cobb. “She continues to vote in favor of the corporations who fund her campaigns at the expense of northern New York families. When it comes to health care, and specifically the opioid crisis, lives are on the line. That’s why I’m in this race and that’s why I refuse to accept corporate PAC money. I will be accountable only to the people of this district.”

The bill, sponsored by Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Delaware, was approved in the House May 16. The vote was 243 to 183, generally along party lines, with five Republicans joining the Democrats and no Republicans crossing over.