Trump Plans Order to Require Pre-Existing Condition Coverage

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he will be “pursuing” an executive order in the next two weeks requiring health insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions for all customers.

“That’s a big thing,” he told reporters at his golf club Friday evening in Bedminster, New Jersey. “We have to cover pre-existing conditions. This has never been done before, but it’s time the people of our country are properly represented and properly taken care of.”

Obamacare, which the Trump administration is seeking to overturn in court, protects patients with pre-existing conditions.

The announcement was one of several executive actions Trump said he’s prepared to take. He also said he’s prepared to sign executive actions to provide expanded unemployment benefits, a temporary payroll tax deferral, eviction protection and student-loan relief -- if the administration can’t reach agreement on a stimulus package with Democrats.

Trump has long promised, but never delivered, a comprehensive health plan. Last month, Trump pledged a full health plan that was to have arrived at the start of this week, but did not.

Poll Numbers

Trump has regularly committed to protect people with pre-existing conditions, without saying how -- a promise at odds with Republicans’ push to invalidate Obamacare.

Trump continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, which has driven down his polling numbers and has focused more attention on the fragility of employer-provided insurance in the U.S. Polls show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden nationally and in key states. Democrats retook control of the House of Representatives in 2018, focusing heavily on health care.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.