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Trump Uses Joint Address to Congress to Discuss Protections for Pre-Existing Conditions

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In his joint address to Congress, Donald Trump called upon Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare. “Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans,” Trump said. “Action is not a choice, it is a necessity.”

Trump took his speech as an opportunity to outline what he would like to see from future healthcare legislation including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, bringing down the “high-cost” of drugs and the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines. Trump also called for reforms that “expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better healthcare.”

“The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we will do,” Trump said. No further plans as to how Trump or Congress would lower the cost of insurance were provided.

On Friday, a draft of an Obamacare replacement plan was leaked, which would remove the subsidies and Medicaid expansion put in place by the Obama administration. The draft also detailed high-risk pools to protect people with pre-existing conditions, and limits on tax breaks for employer-sponsored health insurance plans.

Originally published: March 1, 2017
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