Claim: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) claimed that former President Donald Trump would cancel health coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Verdict: FALSE. This claim has been fact-checked before and is false. Trump wants to cover pre-existing conditions.
During the vice presidential debate on CBS News, Gov. Tim Walz stated that if elected, former President Donald Trump would cancel coverage for pre-existing health conditions. Walz based this claim on Trump’s support for repealing Obamacare. However, Breitbart News fact-checked and debunked this statement in 2020.
In his first address to Congress in 2017, President Trump made it clear that his “first” principle in repealing and replacing Obamacare would be ensuring that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage. Later that year, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill supported by Trump to repeal and replace Obamacare, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which included additional spending to protect Americans with pre-existing health conditions.
In 2019, Trump once again promised during his State of the Union address that he would “protect patients with pre-existing conditions.” He reiterated this pledge in a speech in Toledo, Ohio earlier this month. The president backs a court challenge to the existing Obamacare system because he believes it will create political momentum for a better Republican alternative.
Several Republicans have also introduced legislation to protect pre-existing conditions in case the courts throw out Obamacare, which many conservatives believe was unconstitutional on the day it was signed into law. With support from his party and his own promises, there is no way Abby Phillip’s contention can be stated as fact.
Additionally, Walz defended the individual mandate requirement that every person must buy health insurance or face a fine. This requirement was part of Obamacare but was repealed by Congress under Trump in 2017.