Richard Mourdock Claim That Employers Should Not Have To Cover Cancer Sparks Attacks

Democrats are hammering Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock over his statement that employers should not have to cover cancer in their insurance plans if they don't want to.

Mourdock, the state treasurer, argued in a newspaper interview last week that not only should employers not have to cover health care services that they oppose, such as contraception, but they also should be exempt from paying for anything they do not want to include, based on costs.

“Does that employer have the right to do it?" Mourdock told the News and Tribune, covering southern Indiana. "I would say yes they do if they want to keep their health care costs down but it also means it’s less likely you’re going to want to work here. If that employer wants to get the best employees coming in the door he’s going to offer the best insurance possible.”

On Monday Indiana Democrats have been highlighting the remark, noting that while cancer takes a huge toll in Indiana every year, it's extremely expensive to treat and that 60 percent of all personal bankruptcies are caused by medical bills.

“More than 30,000 Hoosiers are diagnosed with cancer every year," said Indiana's Democratic Party chair, Dan Parker, in a statement.

"Almost 13,000 die. Every one of us has been touched by someone who that has had to suffer an illness that not only threatens lives, but wipes families out financially,” Parker added. “Richard Mourdock wants to gamble not just Hoosiers’ health but our financial security in the name of his TEA Party agenda.”

Mourdock's campaign did not respond to a request to elaborate on his position.