What specific votes did Nick Freitas cast related to health insurance and short‑term plans?

1. The signature vote on short‑term plans: backing longer, non‑ACA alternatives

Freitas supported legislation in 2018 that aligned with the Trump administration’s move to expand the permissible duration of short‑term, limited‑benefit insurance policies — plans explicitly permitted to exclude preexisting conditions and other ACA protections — and PolitiFact, examining his record, says he “voted to significantly expand the duration of short‑term insurance plans” that don’t have to cover preexisting conditions ^{[1] [2]}.

2. The autism coverage votes: lone dissenter on a bipartisan mandate

On a separate track of health‑insurance mandates, Freitas cast a rare “no” against requiring small‑group market insurers to cover autism diagnosis and treatment, with reporting noting he was the only House member of either party to oppose that measure (HB 2577 is cited in reporting) ^{[5] [3]}. Campaign materials and the DCCC emphasize this as an example of Freitas opposing bipartisan health protections for children ^{[4] [6]}.

3. Prescription drug caps and Medicaid: opposing price limits and expansion

Freitas was also recorded among a small group of Republicans who voted against legislation to cap insulin copays, with Washington Post‑cited summaries and DCCC materials saying he was one of four GOP votes blocking a cap on insulin prices ^[3]. Separately, he opposed expanding Medicaid in Virginia — a policy position highlighted by Democratic campaign materials charging that his vote would have left hundreds of thousands without coverage ^{[4] [6]}.

4. How fact‑checkers and campaigns interpret these votes — and where the record is strongest

Nonpartisan fact‑checkers such as PolitiFact and reporting aggregators have treated the short‑term plan vote and his statements about repealing the Affordable Care Act as direct evidence that Freitas has supported options that undercut ACA protections for preexisting conditions ^{[1] [2]}. Democratic campaign sources and the DCCC compile his votes on autism coverage, insulin caps, and Medicaid expansion into a narrative that he routinely opposed expanded access and mandated coverage ^{[4] [3]}. Those sources cite the specific votes and their outcomes; PolitiFact’s summary is the clearest independent articulation of the short‑term plan vote ^[1].

5. Limits of available public reporting and outstanding specifics

The publicly sourced summaries reviewed identify the 2018 short‑term plan expansion vote and name specific 2019 votes such as the “no” on HB 2577 (autism) and votes opposing an insulin cap and Medicaid expansion, but they do not always quote roll‑call text or bill numbers for every cited vote in a single consolidated official roll‑call transcript within these sources; where a fact sheet or campaign page makes broader claims (for example, “voted twice against insurance coverage for autism treatment”), those claims are repeated by partisan sources and flagged by PolitiFact and VPM reporting as reflecting his record, but primary legislative roll‑call citations are provided most directly for the autism and short‑term plan matters in the cited reporting ^{[1] [5] [3] [4]}.

6. Bottom line — what the record shows on short‑term plans and related insurance votes

The clearest documented vote directly on short‑term plans is Freitas’ 2018 support for expanding the allowable duration of short‑term insurance policies — a policy change widely described as enabling coverage that can exclude preexisting conditions — and his later Virginia House votes include high‑profile “no” votes against autism coverage mandates, opposition to insulin copay caps, and resistance to Medicaid expansion, all of which fact‑checkers and campaign trackers cite when characterizing his health‑insurance voting record ^{[1] [2] [5] [3] [4]}.