While Trump made lots of false or misleading statements during his State of the Union speech, perhaps the most egregious was his promise to protect people with pre-existing conditions from losing health insurance coverage.

The Trump administration supports the efforts begun by 18 Republican governors in 2018 to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act now that the individual mandate was eliminated as part of the 2017 tax cut giveaway.  The administration chose not to defend the ACA in court, a move which is “unprecedented,” according to legal analysts.

If the case is won by these governors, protections for those with pre-existing conditions will disappear, as will the ability to keep a young adult on a parents’ insurance policy. The transparency regarding what insurers actually cover will be lost as well.

Without the ACA in place, the administration doesn’t have the power to force insurers not to discriminate against the sick. You’d need a new law for that.

Republicans have tried more than 50 times to repeal “Obamacare” even though they had nothing to take its place. They still have nothing to substitute for it except  empty promises.

A vote for Trump this fall will almost certainly mean the end of the Affordable Care Act, including all the protections that millions are now relying on.

Millions of Americans will lose coverage. Their struggles should matter to you, if for no other reason than their lack of coverage drives up costs for everyone.

Mary Ann Larson
Portland