RICHMOND - Ahead of Donald Trump taking the debate state tomorrow, Virginians won’t forget the many broken promises he’s made to them about their health care, and especially protections for those of them who have pre-existing conditions. 

Being in the midst of a global pandemic that has already cost the lives of over 200,000 Americans and 3,000 Virginians hasn’t stopped Trump from trying to take away health care from those who need it most. With a vacancy on the Supreme Court and a scheduled hearing on the ACA a week after the election, health care for millions of Virginians is on the line. 

“No matter how hard President Trump tries to spin his disastrous health care record on tomorrow’s debate stage, Virginians won’t forget his constant attacks on their health care,” said Hannah Muldavin, Press Secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia. “Virginians know how important quality, affordable health care is, that’s why they elected Democrats to expand Medicaid to over 400,000 Virginians. But Donald Trump’s attempts to repeal the ACA threaten to rip affordable health care away from hundreds of thousands of people across the Commonwealth.” 

Some of Trump’s Health Care Lies and Broken Promises to Virginians

In 2015, Trump promised Virginians that he was going to create a new health care program and that people would be paying less for health insurance. 

• “We're going to have that great health care program. But we're going to take care of everyone, we're going to take care of people. And people are going to pay much less and get it so good.” [Trump Campaign Rally, Richmond VA, 10/14/15]

But since coming into office, Trump has tried countless times to tear down the ACA, with no alternative.

• Trump’s budgets have proposed cutting billions of dollars from Social Security programs, and hundreds of billions from Medicare and Medicaid. More than 1.2 million Virginians rely on their hard-earned Medicare benefits, and one out of every four Virginia children are covered through Medicaid.

Even in the middle of a pandemic Trump is trying to strike down the ACA, which could result in 3.5 million Virginians with pre-existing conditions losing protections. 

• Even as COVID was impacting communities across the country, Trump still voiced support for getting rid of the ACA. 
• When the pandemic started, Trump declined to launch a special ACA open enrollment period, despite that fact that it could have resulted in millions of Americans getting coverage. 
• The week after the election, the Trump administration will go before the Supreme Court in a case to have the Affordable Care Act struck down.
• If Trump is successful, 642,000 Virginians could lose their health coverage, nearly doubling the state’s number of uninsured residents. Without the ACA’s protections, as many as 3.4 million Virginians with preexisting conditions could have been denied coverage or charged higher rates.

If Trump’s attempt to overturn the ACA is successful, Virginians would see higher costs and those who got access to insurance under the Medicaid expansion would lose coverage.  

• Repealing the ACA would cause premiums to shoot up by as much as 100% or more for the 130 million and counting Americans under 65 who have pre-existing conditions. 
• If the ACA is repealed, at least 22 million people would face increased premiums due to losing expanded access to Medicaid or cost-sharing reductions for the individual marketplace. 

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a plan to build off the Affordable Care Act by expanding coverage and lowering costs for health care and prescription drugs. 

• Joe Biden will continue to protect and build on the Affordable Care Act as President. He will:
  • Make sure every American has access to affordable health insurance.
  • Stand up to Big Pharma and negotiate lower costs for prescription drugs.
  • Ensure health care is a right for everyone -- not a privilege reserved for some.

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