SDDP Issues Statement on Health Care Executive Order

PIERRE, S.D., Oct. 12 -- The South Dakota Democratic Party issued the following statement by Executive Director Sam Parkinson on President Trump signing an executive order on health insurance markets across the country:

"For nine months, Rep. Kristi Noem and Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds - and the rest of the Republican political establishment in Washington - have abdicated their basic responsibility to make sure that our country's healthcare system works.

"Instead, they have worked to undermine it and sabotage it at every turn, which has driven up premiums and costs for South Dakota families.

"Those efforts continued today, as Donald Trump signed away the American people's right to quality, affordable healthcare. This executive order undermines protections for South Dakotans with pre-existing conditions, and will cause premiums to skyrocket for those South Dakotans who need affordable healthcare the most. It will even undermine existing protections for people in association healthcare plans in states around the country. Make no mistake - families in South Dakota and around the country will suffer from this reckless act.

"It is long past time for Rep. Noem, Senators Thune and Rounds, and the rest of the Republicans in Congress to put an end to their party's sabotage of our healthcare system, and instead work with Democrats to build upon the progress of the Affordable Care Act to make affordable, quality healthcare a reality for all Americans."