“The 82-page brief filed late Thursday to the Supreme Court in a high-profile case brought by GOP state attorneys general undercuts President Trump’s repeated pledges to ensure coverage for people with preexisting conditions as his administration and the broader Republican Party seek to wipe away that protection.”
“Trump vowed as recently as last weekend, at a campaign rally in Tulsa, that he would “always protect patients with preexisting conditions, always, always.” But his own administration’s position in court is that the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, and therefore so is the entire law — even its most popular provisions, such as coverage for those with preexisting conditions.”
Medicynical Note: And now the fine print on Trump’s pre-existing illness non-guarantee.
Trump’s promise to protect patients with pre-existing illnesses does not guarantee affordable pricing. Insurers can and will charge people with pre-existing problems more, much much more.
And if the patient can’t afford the insurers price for coverage, republicans then usually propose to put them into high risk pools and charge for subsidized insurance based on income (an ability to pay test). The problems with such pools is that they are underfunded (run out of funds to pay for care) and still too expensive for most people to afford.
The president’s promise also does nothing to limit deductibles and co-pays for people with pre-existing illnesses. And these extra charges can also be based on income and assets.
Remember Trump is a health care ignoramus. He knows nothing about health insurance or funding it. He really can’t be bothered with details and has no understanding that health insurers have primary fiduciary responsibility to stock holders not patients. They really have limited to no interest in caring for very sick people.
It’s a fact that Medicare was first established for that very reason. Insurers didn’t want to provide coverage for the elderly, after all they might be sick. As a group they have too many pre-existing illnesses.
Maybe in a more rational time we’ll come to conclude that Medicare type insurance makes the most sense for everyone in the only industrialized country in the world which has no national health care scheme. Maybe, who knows? VOTE
Medicynic 