Pre-existing health conditions at issue in new Nancy Soderberg TV ads

Nancy Soderberg, the Democratic nominee to fill Ron DeSantis‘ open seat in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, rolled out two new TV spots Tuesday morning spotlighting health care differences between her and her opponent.

The first one, “Hung Up,” deals with difficulties in getting health insurance. In it, Soderberg mentions her accomplishments when she served as Alternate Representative to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton, with the rank of Ambassador.

“I helped start the conversation to bring peace to Northern Ireland, and I was one of the first to say ‘let’s get bin Laden,’ but when I called insurance companies looking for health coverage, they hung up on me because I have a pre-existing condition,” Soderberg said in the spot.

Those closely following Soderberg’s race with Republican nominee Mike Waltz will note that health coverage for pre-existing conditions has been a general election talking point for her. Her first ad, released last month, also highlighted her struggle to get health coverage as a diabetic.

“Everyone here in Florida deserves health insurance we can afford. That’s why I’m running for Congress,” Soderberg says.

The second spot, “Unavailable,” sets up a contrast with Waltz, beginning with a depiction of a constituent call to Waltz’s headquarters.

“Can you please tell me why Mike Waltz’s health care plan kicks 70,000 people off health insurance and raises health care costs for everyone else,” says one caller.

A second caller shreds Waltz for trying to “gut protections for pre-existing conditions.”

Eventually, callers are routed to an answering machine.

Soderberg, who has raised over $2 million in this race, has the resources to deploy thanks to her primary being much less costly than the three-way GOP race, which left Waltz with only $286K banked on Aug. 8. And she clearly sees room to move independent voters on the real differences in health care plans between Waltz and her.