The Trump administration’s recent attempt to undermine the Affordable Care Act has prompted some state leaders to speak out. Oregon Governor Kate Brown met with patients at a health clinic in Eugene Tuesday and spoke on the need to protect health care coverage for all, especially those with pre-existing conditions.
Governor Brown stood before caregivers and patients at Planned Parenthood’s Regional Health and Education Center in Eugene.
“Every single one of us has a friend or a loved one with a pre-existing condition,” Brown says.
Jacob Burris is 16. He has a congenital heart defect that requires regular blood pressure monitoring and a life time of medication. Brown says the Trump administration’s decision is causing uncertainty for patients like Jacob.
“When he ages out of his current health insurance coverage, his job choices will be driven just as much by benefits as it will by vocation,” Brown says. “His life decisions will be based on his ability to get health insurance.”
Brown says state law protects Oregonians with pre-existing conditions from losing healthcare. But with efforts by the Trump administration to weaken the ACA, she says we shouldn’t take anything for granted.