WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 28, 2020) -- Kenneth Thorpe, chairman of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump's America-First Healthcare Plan executive order:
 
"President Trump's latest executive order claims to protect people from discrimination in healthcare while authorizing the importation of Canadian policies that rely upon discrimination to set access policies and drug pricing. The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease supports protections for people living with pre-existing conditions as currently embodied by the law, and this Executive Order falls far short of existing protections.  Should existing protections be stricken as a part of the Affordable Care Act, this executive order will not provide the same guaranteed protections for patients, especially for those most vulnerable and most reliant on our healthcare system.”
 
“Canada’s drug price controls rely on discriminatory means to determine “value” in ways that restrict access to treatments based on people’s age, health status, and presence of disabilities.  We oppose discrimination in healthcare in all forms.  It is inconsistent to support protections for people living with pre-existing conditions in healthcare coverage while within the same executive order support the importation of discriminatory policies that devalue the lives of those very individuals.”
 
“Drug importation poses significant safety risks with an outsized impact on the most vulnerable Americans, including seniors and the one in two Americans living with chronic conditions.  These patients deserve better.”
 
“We appreciate the need to address rising out-of-pocket costs for seniors and others who rely upon prescription drugs to maintain and improve their health, but recommend pursuing means other than a one-time $200 drug coupon. Enacting policies that spread the payment of Medicare Part D deductibles over the course of a plan year, cap out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries, and reduce cost sharing through value-based benefit design would provide significant, lasting relief for seniors.” 
 
 
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The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) is an international coalition of patient, provider, community, business and labor groups, and health policy experts, committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability and rising health care costs: chronic disease.