Trump teases order requiring insurers to cover preexisting conditions

President Trump on Friday teased an executive order to require health insurers to cover all preexisting conditions, something already established under the Affordable Care Act, which his administration is suing to dismantle.

“Over the next two weeks I’ll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all preexisting conditions for all companies,” Trump said during a news conference at his Bedminster property in New Jersey. “That’s a big thing. I’ve always been very strongly in favor. We have to cover preexisting conditions.”

Trump claimed such a move “has never been done before,” though insurance companies are already required to cover patients with preexisting conditions under the Affordable Care Act, which was enacted in 2010.

Despite Trump’s insistence he will protect those with preexisting conditions, the Justice Department argued in a Supreme Court briefing in late June that the entire Affordable Care Act should be invalidated. 

Overturning the law would take away health insurance coverage for about 20 million people. The effects would be felt even more acutely given the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected roughly 5 million people in the United States.

Trump has, throughout his first term, promised to unveil a health care plan of his own, though has yet to do so while seeking reelection. In an interview late last month with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump promised a comprehensive health care bill within two weeks. Two weeks later, he said it would likely be out within a month.

It was not immediately clear if the executive order mentioned Friday was the same measure. Trump has rolled out a number of executive orders in recent weeks as he seeks to accomplish parts of his agenda prior to Election Day.