FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2020
Contact: Juan Ramiro Sarmiento
(785) 760-6567 | juan.sarmiento@younginvincibles.org

President Trump Pretends Executive Order will Replace Key Consumer Protections

Washington, D.C. – Today, President Trump announced he will be issuing two new Executive Orders that will address protections for people with pre-existing conditions and surprise billing. The Trump administration has been promising a health care plan for the last three years, ever since their last effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act through Congress failed in 2017. The Trump administration is also supporting a lawsuit headed to the US Supreme Court which would strike down the ACA in its entirety if it were successful. People with pre-existing conditions are already protected by the Affordable Care Act.

In response to President Trump’s announcement, Erin Hemlin, Health Policy and Advocacy Director for Young Invincibles, issued the following statement:

“The Trump administration has had four years to put forth a vision on the future of health care policy, and yet, they have failed to cobble together even a basic plan to provide health coverage and care to Americans. Instead, they have expanded and promoted junk plans that do not have to cover pre-existing conditions, while at the same time, the administration is now issuing a half-hearted measure through an empty executive order claiming to protect people from pre-existing condition discrimination, which an executive order cannot do. This is clearly meant to be political talking points rather than substantive policy.

The truth is they do have a plan: it’s to destroy the Affordable Care Act in the courts. While giving no real thought to any alternatives, the administration is fully supporting a lawsuit that, if successful, would strip away health coverage from an estimated 25 million Americans, eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and throw our entire health care system into utter chaos – all during a public health crisis.

This latest Executive Order cannot actually protect people from discrimination – that requires legislation. And of course, it’s completely unnecessary when these protections are already codified into law, through the Affordable Care Act.

The nation is facing a coverage crisis, and instead of working with Congress to help those who are uninsured actually gain health insurance, the administration has instead focused its petty, vengeful efforts on striking down a law that is responsible for the greatest expansion of health coverage in our nation’s history.

Enough is enough. Over 6 million people have contracted the coronavirus. That is 6 million more Americans with a new pre-existing condition. These people and all Americans deserve more than empty rhetoric, callous indifference, and cold political calculations. If the President truly cared about protecting people with pre-existing conditions, he would withdraw the Department of Justice from the ACA repeal lawsuit, and actually do his job.”

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