My Turn: David N. Cicilline: Trump’s dangerous attack on health care

Right now, the Trump administration is suing in federal court to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act, jeopardizing access to health care for millions of Americans.

If the administration succeeds, the entire law will be scrapped, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion, provisions allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26, and more. If President Trump gets his way, it will be legal for insurance companies to limit the amount of coverage someone can get in their lifetime and to sell junk plans that offer no real coverage when you're sick.

It will mean going back to the days when Americans diagnosed with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other illnesses can be kicked off their insurance plans when they get sick. People with pre-existing conditions will once again be forced to choose between paying for prescription drugs or paying their rent. Seniors will no longer get discounts on prescription drugs and insurance plans may not cover pregnancy, mental health care, or certain prescriptions.

Last December, my office assisted an East Providence mother who recently found that she and her husband could no longer afford health-care coverage for themselves and their three children. Fortunately, we were able to work with HealthSource Rhode Island to ensure that the entire family was able to get health care through Medicaid expansion, which the Affordable Care Act made possible. If President Trump succeeds in repealing the Affordable Care Act, her family and millions like them will no longer be able to afford even basic health care.

Democrats won the majority in the U.S. House last November because the American people understand that we are fighting to protect their health care, not make it worse. We won the majority because we believe it's time to move forward health care, not backwards.

We have done -- and will continue to do -- everything in our power to protect life-saving access to affordable health-care coverage for all Americans and to protect coverage for pre-existing conditions, our seniors and our most vulnerable.

Since the first day of the 116th Congress, the Democratic majority has been fighting for the people to deliver on that promise. We are working hard to expand access to affordable health care and to lower health-care costs.

Over the past few weeks, the House has passed 10 health care bills. The first will protect people with pre-existing conditions -- reversing the Trump Administration's dangerous effort to allow states to waive life-saving protections for people with pre-existing conditions and push Americans into junk insurance plans that discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, do not cover essential benefits and swindle hard-working families.

There's little doubt the Affordable Care Act has saved lives, put our country on a healthier path, and brought us closer to quality, affordable care for all Americans. But it's not perfect. There's still work to be done especially when it comes to the price of prescription drugs. Which is why, last week, we also passed two pieces of legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs, by removing some of the barriers to generics coming to market, including my legislation, the CREATES Act, H.R. 965.

As we move forward with this critical work, it is our hope that Republicans in the White House and in Congress will end their dangerous attacks on people with pre-existing conditions, seniors, and those struggling with high prescription drug costs. We hope they stop their efforts to leave more Americans without coverage or needlessly drive up insurance premiums.

We call on the president and all of our colleagues to stand with us to improve our health-care system, to reduce health-care costs, and to bring lower priced prescription drugs to market for hardworking Americans.

David N. Cicilline, a Democrat, is a U.S. representative from Rhode Island.

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