Republican AGs and Trump are Attempting to Gut Health Care including Protections for Pre-Existing Conditions in Texas vs. US Lawsuit

During the State of the Union, President Trump claimed he will “always protect patients with pre-existing conditions — that is a guarantee.” Like his tweet last month, that claim is FALSE. PolitiFact rated Trump’s claim about pre-existing conditions “pants on fire” and the Associated Press released a scathing fact check noting “People with preexisting medical problems have health insurance protections because of President Barack Obama’s health care law, which Trump is trying to dismantle.”

Not long after Trump uttered this lie about health care during the State of the Union, the Republican Attorneys General Association tweeted this misleading line:

FACT: Republican AGs and the Trump administration have teamed up in the Courts (Texas v US) in an effort to dismantle health care for 20 million Americans, including eliminating protections for people with pre-existing conditions – something that will harm 135+ million Americans.

FACT: Jeff Landry (LA) and Patrick Morrisey’s (WV) weak attempts to “protect” pre-existing conditions are faux heroics. The truth is that people living with pre-existing conditions are more at risk of losing coverage and facing higher costs because Landry and Morrisey joined the GOP lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. These bills are untested “solutions” to a problem Landry and Morrisey will be a big part in creating in the first place.

At a time when 72% of Americans say it is “very important” to protect the ACA provisions prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage, it’s par for the course to see Republicans and the Trump administration falsely taking credit for saving health care, when in reality they are the ones putting the American people at risk.

“Pre-existing conditions protections are popular, and both parties are trying to claim credit for them. But only one of the parties has a track record of defending those protections, and it’s not the GOP.” – Axios Vitals, 2/5/2020

FACT: Democratic AGs have been and continue to be the nation’s most effective leaders protecting health care. A coalition of 20 Democratic AGs led by California AG Xavier Becerra is defending the Affordable Care Act and fighting to protect the health care millions rely on every day.

This November, four of the Republican AGs who are in court wasting taxpayer dollars to take health care away from their constituents and jeopardize protections for people with pre-existing conditions are up for re-election. Voters will have the opportunity to hold the Republican AGs of Indiana, Missouri, Utah, and West Virginia accountable this November.

Health care–and Republican AGs–are on the ballot.