(BOSTON) — Statement of Robert Restuccia, executive director of Community Catalyst, regarding President Trump’s approval today of an executive order that seeks to roll back consumer protections put in place by the Affordable Care Act. 

“Today, President Trump continued his campaign to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by issuing an executive order that directs his cabinet secretaries to find ways around the law’s critical consumer protections. These protections prevent insurers from discriminating against people with preexisting health conditions, ensuring all consumers, no matter the status of their health, have access to quality and affordable coverage.

“The executive order gives the president’s cabinet marching orders to upend the individual and small group insurance markets. Continuing down this path would create an uneven playing field in which younger, healthier consumers flock to less expensive yet bare-bones plans that don’t cover essential services, forcing older, sicker patients to pay exorbitant premiums and have fewer plan choices. By giving insurance companies more latitude to sell plans that could skirt protections the ACA put in place specifically to ensure people with preexisting conditions such as cancer and diabetes wouldn’t be denied or priced out of coverage, the President is once again prioritizing politics over people’s health.

“It’s abundantly clear that the Trump administration remains steadfast in its quest to sabotage the Affordable Care Act regardless of the potentially disastrous impact on the millions of Americans who will suffer as a result of their reckless actions and the chaos that would ensue in health insurance markets.

“Instead of sabotaging the ACA, President Trump should be encouraging bipartisan efforts in Congress to strengthen our health care system. His administration should work to ensure the federal government fulfills its duty to connect consumers who need coverage to the marketplace during the upcoming open enrollment period. Americans deserve better than political grandstanding – we need real actions that will improve the health and wellbeing of families across the country.”

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About Community Catalyst

Community Catalyst is a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1998 with the belief that affordable, quality health care should be accessible to everyone. We work in partnership with national, state and local organizations, policymakers, and philanthropic foundations to ensure consumer interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and the health system are made: in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit www.communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @healthpolicyhub.