September 24, 2020
OLYMPIA, Wash. – The following statement from Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is in response to President Trump’s announcement about claiming to protect Americans with pre-existing medical conditions:
“President Trump’s claim that he will protect people with pre-existing conditions from being denied health insurance is again dishonest and outrageous.
“The awful truth is this: He and his Republican Party filed a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act and the very protections he claims to support. If successful, this challenge would eliminate other vital protections and leave tens of millions of people without the critical coverage they need, especially now.
“His statement today offers no specifics, just fiction. And it comes at a time when over 200,000 Americans of all ages have died from the coronavirus and millions more have been infected because of the president lying about the severity of the virus for months and doing so little to lead the nation.
“On top of this, he’s had four years to honor his promise for improved health care and has come up with nothing. It’s empty rhetoric again.
“Millions of people today are getting the critical care they and their families need because they have coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Many are saved from the medical bankruptcies a critical illness can cause. I simply cannot fathom why the leader of our nation believes the best and only answer is to rip away the very coverage people need as they face the health crisis of our lifetime. It’s beyond short-sighted and ignorant - it’s heartless and cruel.”
What’s at stake in Washington state if the ACA is overturned:
- Washington state will lose $2.8 billion annually in federal funds and more than 700,000 could lose coverage.
- $2.3 billion cut in annual federal funding to pay for Medicaid expansion coverage means 600,000 newly eligible enrollees would lose health coverage.
- A $519 million cut in annual federal funding to pay for premium subsidies means more than 100,000 people lose the financial assistance that helps them afford health insurance.
See more about how abolishing Obamacare would threaten even more lives during pandemic.