Tag: pre-existing conditions

Democrats Defend Pre-Existing Condition Protections That Trump Wants To Gut

Democrats filed a discharge petition to force a vote in the Senate today to overturn Trump’s junk insurance plans, which do not provide protections for people with pre-existing conditions. While Democrats want to protect people with pre-existing conditions, Trump continues to lead the charge to gut these vital protections.

Democrats are standing up to protect people with pre-existing conditions against Trump’s health care sabotage.

Senator Baldwin: “Today I filed a discharge petition to force a Senate vote on overturning the Trump Administration’s expansion of junk insurance plans that can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. #NoJunkPlans”

In response, Trump issued the first veto threat of his presidency, which would expand plans that don’t guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions.

USA Today’s Gregory Korte: “The White House has just issued the first veto threat of the Trump administration. It’s on a resolution of disapproval for regulations that would expand short-term health insurance that was touted as an alternative to Obamacare.”

Continue reading “Democrats Defend Pre-Existing Condition Protections That Trump Wants To Gut”

REAL STORIES: Trump Lies About Protecting Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions

Trump says he is protecting people with pre-existing conditions, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, Trump and Republicans are trying to end the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Republicans are paying the price with voters who overwhelmingly want to keep these vital protections in place.

Trump is lying to the American people about protecting people with  pre-existing conditions. The truth is he wants to get rid of the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Associated Press: “President Donald Trump isn’t playing it straight when it comes to his campaign pledge not to undercut health coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions.”

FactCheck.org: “Trump’s comments contradict the Justice Department’s actions, which Trump approved, according to a June letter from the Justice Department to Congress on this lawsuit.” Continue reading “REAL STORIES: Trump Lies About Protecting Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions”

Want to Know More About: Status of Coverage for Pre-Existing Conditions

CNN Reality On Sen. Ted Cruz’s Comment “Everyone Agrees We’re Going To Protect Pre-Existing Conditions:” “Not So Much. This Casual Comment From Senator Cruz Does Not Track With Reality.” CRUZ CLIP: “We can protect pre-existing conditions. You need to understand, everyone agrees we’re going to protect pre-existing conditions.” AVLON: “Not so much. This casual comment from senator Cruz does not track with reality. After all, right now, Texas attorney general is leading a legal charge with 19 other states to overturn Obamacare, including its massively popular protections for people with pre-existing conditions.” [New Day, CNN, 9/24/18; VIDEO]

John Avlon: “Senator Republicans Have Floated A Bill That Would Keep The Protections But There’s One Big Problem. It Doesn’t Limit What Insurance Companies Can Charge To Cover The Pre-Existing Conditions Like Obamacare Does.” AVLON: “Senator Republicans have floated a bill that would keep the protections but there’s one big problem. It doesn’t limit what insurance companies can charge to cover the pre-existing conditions like Obamacare does and critics say that loophole allows conservatives to act like they’re protecting.” [New Day, CNN, 9/24/18; VIDEO]

John Avlon: “Facts Matter. Telling Folks You Support A Popular Provision That Goes To The Heart Of Their Health And Wallet While Also Supporting Legislation That Would Do The Opposite That’s A Special Kind Of Hypocrisy.” AVLON: “In the 11 states that has the most people with pre-existing conditions, Trump crushed Hillary Clinton with an average of 26 points. No wonder trump told a crowd in Las Vegas this.” TRUMP CLIP: “Donald Trump and Republicans will protect patients with pre-existing conditions.”AVLON: “Facts matter. Telling folks you support a popular provision that goes to the heart of their health and wallet while also supporting legislation that would do the opposite that’s a special kind of hypocrisy.” [New Day, CNN, 9/24/18; VIDEO]

NEW POLL: 75% Of Americans Support Pre-Existing Condition Protections That Trump & Kavanaugh Would Dismantle

A new poll found that 75 percent of Americans, and 58 percent of Republicans, want to keep ACA protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Despite that, Trump filed a lawsuit to destroy these protections. Oral arguments in this lawsuit begin today, and it could be contested all the way to the Supreme Court. Which brings us to Trump’s Supreme Court nominee…

We know Kavanaugh would rule to dismantle the ACA, because Trump himself promised that his Supreme Court nominees would do that.

“If I win the presidency, my judicial appointments will do the right thing unlike Bush’s appointee John Roberts on ObamaCare.” – Trump, 2015

Kavanaugh previously wrote that a future president could refuse to enforce the ACA, even if it had been upheld by the courts.

New Yorker: “Late last year, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit voted, two to one, to uphold President Obama’s health-care reform, known as the Affordable Care Act (aca). Kavanaugh dissented, primarily on the ground that the lawsuit was premature. In a sixty-five-page opinion, Kavanaugh appeared to offer some advice to the Republicans who are challenging Obama in the election this year. ‘Under the Constitution,’ Kavanaugh wrote, ‘the President may decline to enforce a statute that regulates private individuals when the President deems the statute unconstitutional, even if a court has held or would hold the statute constitutional.’”

NOTE:  Rep. Paulsen has voted multiple times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which protects people from skyrocketing insurance premiums or no insurance at all due to pre-existing conditions.

Democrats Push Senate to Take Legal Action Backing Pre-existing Condition Protections

The following article by Niels Lesniewski was posted on the Roll Call website July 19, 2018:

McCaskill and Manchin among leaders of the effort

Sen. Manchin, D-W.Va., shakes hands with Atty General Morrisey, who is also running for U.S. Senate. The two are on opposite sides of a debate over pre-existing conditions that could become a part of their campaigns. Credit: Sarah Silbiger, CQ Roll Call file photo

Updated 3:15 p.m. | In a possible preview of Senate Democrats’ midterm political messaging, Democratic senators want the chamber to go to court to defend health insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Two of the Democrats leading the effort face Republican challengers in 2018 who have signed on to the legal effort that could undermine the regulations from the 2010 health care law: state attorneys general in Missouri, Josh Hawley, and West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey.

“We’re asking all of our colleagues, and our friends on the Republican side of the aisle to join with us … to stand up against this horrible, horrible position that the attorneys general offices in my state and Claire’s state, but also the Department of Justice,” West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III said Thursday.

View the complete article here.

President Trump’s flip-flop on coverage for preexisting health conditions

The following article by Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly was posted on the Washington Post website June 14, 2018:

The president regularly said he would keep the protections for people with pre-existing conditions. A recent decision does the opposite. (Meg Kelly /The Washington Post)

“After careful consideration, and with the approval of the President of the United States, I have determined that, in Texas v. United States, No. 4: l 8-cv-00167-O (N.D. Tex.), the Department will not defend the constitutionality of 26 U.S.C. 5000A(a), and will argue that certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are inseverable from that provision.”
— Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a letter, June 7, 2018

In plain English, the attorney general’s letter means that the Trump administration no longer supports a provision of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, that makes it possible for people to buy insurance if they have preexisting health conditions. Continue reading “President Trump’s flip-flop on coverage for preexisting health conditions”

The New Obamacare Lawsuit Could Undo Far More Than Protections for Pre-existing Conditions

The following article by Margot Sanger-Katz was posted on the New York Times website June 12, 2018:

Removing two rules from the individual market could very easily disrupt many others.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Capitol Hill in April. The Justice Department has filed suit challenging a crucial provision of the Affordable Care Act. Credit: Andrew Harnik, AP

A new Trump administration court challenge is explicitly aiming to remove a central promise of Obamacare — its protections for people with pre-existing health conditions. But it could also make it much harder for any individual to obtain health insurance on the open market.

The administration’s brief, filed in Federal District Court in Texas on Thursday, focuses on the core Obamacare provisions that make insurance available to people with prior illnesses. Those protections — which President Trump once praised and Republicans in Congress vowed not to disrupt last year — don’t exist in a vacuum. Continue reading “The New Obamacare Lawsuit Could Undo Far More Than Protections for Pre-existing Conditions”

Don’t kick them when they’re down

To the Editor;

Brain cancer. Organ transplant. Heart Disease, Asthma.

These represent just a few of the health issues many of our friends and colleagues have dealt with in the last year. Many of you likely have a list of your own. Some of us have lost loved ones to sickness, while others have struggled to make ends meet, while they battled for their lives.

No one asked to be sick. It’s often thrust upon us — even when we’re trying to prevent it. It could happen to anyone. That’s the one truth about sickness and disease: It’s blind to the contents of our wallet; it doesn’t have a plan. Continue reading “Don’t kick them when they’re down”

Here’s what you need to know about preexisting conditions in the GOP health plan

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website May 4, 2017:

With House Republicans prepared to take a vote Thursdayon yet another version of a plan to overhaul the 2010 Affordable Care Act, attention has been especially focused on whether Obamacare’s popular prohibition against denying coverage based on preexisting medical conditionswill remain in place. Republicans, from President Trump to lawmakers pushing for the bill, insist that it remains intact, just in different form. Democrats and opponents of the bill say the guarantee is gone or greatly weakened.

Here’s a tweet by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), referring to an amendment added to the bill to attract votes. Continue reading “Here’s what you need to know about preexisting conditions in the GOP health plan”