At Press Conference with Little Lobbyists and Teenagers with Complex Medical Needs, Senator Hassan Urges Trump Administration to Keep Protections for Pre-Existing Conditions

Senator Hassan: “Having protections for pre-existing conditions is the difference between getting life-saving care or not.”

Senator Hassan speaks at a press conference with health care advocates.

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan participated in a press conference today outside the Capitol with teenagers living with complex medical needs, members of the Little Lobbyists organization, and health care advocates, calling on President Trump to stop sabotaging health care for hard-working Granite Staters and Americans and to enforce the law of the land by upholding protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

“Affordable health coverage is critical to the freedom, dignity, and well-being of our citizens, and also to the strength of our economy” Senator Hassan said. “Unfortunately, the Trump Administration is once again sabotaging our health care system and is now trying to gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions through the courts, allowing insurance companies to discriminate against Americans with cancer, diabetes, asthma, and more. Allowing discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions is just cruel, leaving the very people who need health insurance coverage the most without the ability to afford it. I am going to continue to stand against partisan attacks on Granite Staters and Americans’ health care, and I am grateful for the efforts of everyone here to stand up against this sabotage.”

Senator Hassan also told the story of a young woman from Newmarket, New Hampshire who was diagnosed with recurrent Hodgkin’s Lymphoma disease and is receiving treatment and an analogous stem cell transplant later this summer. In the letter sent to the Senator’s office through their health stories initiative, the young woman’s mother said she did not know how she would have been able to afford this life-saving treatment had her daughter been denied coverage due to her pre-existing condition.

Senator Hassan has fought hard to protect the rights and well-being of people who experience disabilities and complex medical needs. The Senator has been outspoken about the President’s sabotage efforts on the health care system by failing to maintain coverage for pre-existing conditions. Recently at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, Senator Hassan grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on the Trump Administration’s efforts to gut protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions while claiming a commitment to lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

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