HEALTHCARE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS/RALLY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “At a campaign rally in Las Vegas, President Trump said that he and Republicans ‘will protect patients with pre-existing conditions.’ But his Justice Department has said that those provisions under the Affordable Care Act should be overturned. THE FACTS This requires context. The Justice Department told a federal court in June that it would no longer defend provisions in the Affordable Care Act that protect patients with pre-existing medical conditions. In a brief responding to a lawsuit filed by Texas and 19 other states, the Justice Department called the individual mandate — which requires most Americans to buy insurance or face financial penalties — unconstitutional. Government lawyers argued that protections for pre-existing conditions and other medical issues cannot be separated from the individual mandate, and should also be overturned. In a letter to Congress explaining the brief, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that decision was made ‘with the approval of the president of the United States.’”
–Linda Qiu, “Trump Claims to Protect Pre-Existing Health Conditions. That’s Not What the Government Says.,” The New York Times online, September 21, 2018