President Trump capped his fruitless four-year journey to abolish and replace the Affordable Care Act by signing an executive order Thursday that aims to enshrine the law’s most popular feature while pivoting away from a broader effort to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system.
The order declares it is the policy of the United States for people with preexisting health conditions to be protected, avoiding the thorny details of how to ensure such protections without either leaving the ACA, or Obamacare, in place or crafting new comprehensive legislation.
Trump announced the move during a trip to North Carolina, outlining his “vision” for revamping parts of the nation’s health care. During the speech, which came shortly before a campaign swing to Florida, Trump barely veiled the political nature of his intent.
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“The historic action I’m taking today includes the first-ever executive order to affirm it is the official policy of the United States government to protect patients with preexisting conditions,” Trump said, despite the fact such protections are already enshrined in law. “We’re making that official. We’re putting it down in a stamp, because our opponents, the Democrats, like to constantly talk about it.”
Trump looks for ways to win over voters on health care after failing to deliver on promises
The speech and executive order stood as a tacit admission that Trump had failed to keep his 2016 promise to replace his predecessor’s signature achievement with a conservative alternative. For a president who campaigned in 2016 pledging to “repeal and replace” the ACA, Trump’s 2020 signature health-care speech instead expressed a willingness to keep the law largely in place. Unable to repeal the law, Trump appeared open to simply rebranding it.
“Obamacare is no longer Obamacare, as we worked on it and managed it very well,” Trump said of the law that continues to provide coverage for more than 20 million Americans. “What we have now is a much better plan. It is no longer Obamacare because we got rid of the worse part of it — the individual mandate.”
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President Trump talks to reporters Thursday as he departs the White House. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
While Trump’s 2017 tax law did eliminate the requirement that virtually all Americans maintain insurance, the ACA remains in place with its expansion of Medicaid and insurance markets covering millions.
The failure to repeal and replace the ACA has not stopped Trump from repeatedly promising a soon-to-come health-care plan in a repetitive cycle of boastful pledges and missed deadlines that intensified in recent weeks ahead of the November election.
Trump’s speech and executive action Thursday constituted his most concrete effort yet to make good on those pledges by spelling out his health-care principles and criticizing his opponents.
“We’ve really become the health-care party — the Republican Party,” Trump said before reading a list of his accomplishments that pointedly did not include replacing the Affordable Care Act.
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But even as other Republicans have tried to avoid the issue of health care — with some appearing to defend components of the ACA in political ads — Trump has continued to raise the subject and promise a soon-to-come comprehensive proposal.
Health care, long a top issue for voters, has taken on fresh urgency with less than five weeks to go before the November election.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 200,000 Americans and caused millions to lose their jobs and health insurance. A pending Supreme Court case over the constitutionality of the ACA is set to be heard in November, and the death of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week has raised the prospect that the law could be invalidated.
Trump said he supported the lawsuit but also claimed he would be fine maintaining the core of Obamacare “if we lose,” the first time he has openly expressed a willingness to abandon his original promise to “completely repeal” President Barack Obama’s most significant domestic achievement.
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Democrats have been talking about health care constantly, while Republicans have largely steered clear of the issue, a phenomenon that tracks with public polling showing Americans trust the party responsible for passing the last major health-care legislation over the party that has tried to repeal it without offering an alternative.
Trump has sought to cut into that advantage ahead of the vote, touting his record and signing executive actions just days before he is set to face Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a debate next week.
But the vision Trump laid out Thursday was a far cry from the “full and complete” plan he has promised repeatedly in recent months — each time failing to meet his self-imposed deadlines.
In addition to the executive action on preexisting conditions, Trump also promised millions of older Americans would receive $200 toward the cost of prescription drugs and signed executive orders he said would somehow prevent unexpected medical bills and protect insurance coverage for preexisting medical problems. The White House released no details of how the $200 program would work, how it would be funded and whether this was a long-term plan or one-time payment to seniors ahead of the election.
The order declares it is the policy of the United States for people with preexisting health conditions to be protected, avoiding the thorny details of how to ensure such protections without either leaving the ACA, or Obamacare, in place or crafting new comprehensive legislation.
Trump announced the move during a trip to North Carolina, outlining his “vision” for revamping parts of the nation’s health care. During the speech, which came shortly before a campaign swing to Florida, Trump barely veiled the political nature of his intent.
AD
“The historic action I’m taking today includes the first-ever executive order to affirm it is the official policy of the United States government to protect patients with preexisting conditions,” Trump said, despite the fact such protections are already enshrined in law. “We’re making that official. We’re putting it down in a stamp, because our opponents, the Democrats, like to constantly talk about it.”
Trump looks for ways to win over voters on health care after failing to deliver on promises
The speech and executive order stood as a tacit admission that Trump had failed to keep his 2016 promise to replace his predecessor’s signature achievement with a conservative alternative. For a president who campaigned in 2016 pledging to “repeal and replace” the ACA, Trump’s 2020 signature health-care speech instead expressed a willingness to keep the law largely in place. Unable to repeal the law, Trump appeared open to simply rebranding it.
“Obamacare is no longer Obamacare, as we worked on it and managed it very well,” Trump said of the law that continues to provide coverage for more than 20 million Americans. “What we have now is a much better plan. It is no longer Obamacare because we got rid of the worse part of it — the individual mandate.”
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President Trump talks to reporters Thursday as he departs the White House. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
While Trump’s 2017 tax law did eliminate the requirement that virtually all Americans maintain insurance, the ACA remains in place with its expansion of Medicaid and insurance markets covering millions.
The failure to repeal and replace the ACA has not stopped Trump from repeatedly promising a soon-to-come health-care plan in a repetitive cycle of boastful pledges and missed deadlines that intensified in recent weeks ahead of the November election.
Trump’s speech and executive action Thursday constituted his most concrete effort yet to make good on those pledges by spelling out his health-care principles and criticizing his opponents.
“We’ve really become the health-care party — the Republican Party,” Trump said before reading a list of his accomplishments that pointedly did not include replacing the Affordable Care Act.
AD
But even as other Republicans have tried to avoid the issue of health care — with some appearing to defend components of the ACA in political ads — Trump has continued to raise the subject and promise a soon-to-come comprehensive proposal.
Health care, long a top issue for voters, has taken on fresh urgency with less than five weeks to go before the November election.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 200,000 Americans and caused millions to lose their jobs and health insurance. A pending Supreme Court case over the constitutionality of the ACA is set to be heard in November, and the death of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week has raised the prospect that the law could be invalidated.
Trump said he supported the lawsuit but also claimed he would be fine maintaining the core of Obamacare “if we lose,” the first time he has openly expressed a willingness to abandon his original promise to “completely repeal” President Barack Obama’s most significant domestic achievement.
AD
Democrats have been talking about health care constantly, while Republicans have largely steered clear of the issue, a phenomenon that tracks with public polling showing Americans trust the party responsible for passing the last major health-care legislation over the party that has tried to repeal it without offering an alternative.
Trump has sought to cut into that advantage ahead of the vote, touting his record and signing executive actions just days before he is set to face Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a debate next week.
But the vision Trump laid out Thursday was a far cry from the “full and complete” plan he has promised repeatedly in recent months — each time failing to meet his self-imposed deadlines.
In addition to the executive action on preexisting conditions, Trump also promised millions of older Americans would receive $200 toward the cost of prescription drugs and signed executive orders he said would somehow prevent unexpected medical bills and protect insurance coverage for preexisting medical problems. The White House released no details of how the $200 program would work, how it would be funded and whether this was a long-term plan or one-time payment to seniors ahead of the election.
