Yesterday, the Trump Administration posted a Presidential Executive Order into the Federal Register titled An America-First Healthcare Plan. Apparently, this is the long awaited health plan that President Trump has referenced for more than three years. Unfortunately, an executive order is not a health plan. The order recites actions already taken by the current administration and adds new directives for future legislation and executive actions to be taken by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The President, in this order, is asking for any bill that comes to his desk to include protections for pre-existing conditions. There is NO certainty he will ever see a bill cross his desk. In fact, just yesterday, the U.S. Senate failed to advance a bill to protect those with pre-existing conditions, should the Supreme Court overturn the ACA.
L.A. Care supports the ACA, which is also supported by the majority of Americans, and has helped more than 20 million Americans gain insurance coverage. The ACA is a true health plan. We are disappointed that the law has to be defended again at the Supreme Court. We have long advocated for improving rather than eliminating the ACA, especially when there is no alternative offered. We have also long advocated to amend the ACA to introduce a Public Option across the county, such as the one that was included in the House version of the original ACA. With a public health plan competing with commercial companies in the individual market across the country, there would be more choices and more incentive to keep rates affordable. L.A. Care, a true public option, has proven that in Los Angeles County.
A lot is at stake with the current case about to be argued before the Supreme Court beginning November 10. It is unprecedented that the current administration is not defending the ACA as the law of the land, but is siding with the plaintiff’s claim that the ACA should be declared unconstitutional. It is even more disturbing that the administration has proposed no alternative. The executive order issued yesterday does not constitute an alternative to the ACA in any way, shape or form.
If the ACA falls with a Supreme Court decision, then 20 million people would lose their health insurance, and 133 million people with pre-existing conditions could be left without health insurance. That number will rise as more than seven million people now have the pre-existing condition of COVID-19. Children will no longer be able to stay on their parents’ health plans up to age 26, which is even more important during this recession, with the millions of subsequent job losses.
The fate of the ACA is in jeopardy. We cannot allow it to be destroyed and expect that an executive order masquerading as a “health plan” to replace it will do anything to improve the health of Americans. It would be a step backwards and a tragedy.