02.06.2019 / Press Release
A truly ‘great’ America means access to quality, affordable health care for all families
Washington, D.C. – Families USA executive director Frederick Isasi issued the following statement on President Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address:
“A truly ‘great’ America means access to quality, affordable health care for all families.”
“The President asks us to ‘choose greatness’ but ignores that our nation’s power lies in ensuring that all people can live to their greatest potential. In direct opposition to the goal of greatness, the President continues to push policies that make it harder and harder for our nation’s families to access high-quality, affordable health care.
“The President should be honest with the American people. He made the utterly false claim that he is working to protect people with pre-existing conditions but continues to make it easier and easier for insurance companies to sell junk policies that threaten access to health insurance for the tens of millions of Americans who have pre-existing conditions.”
“Tonight, President Trump unveiled his 10-year plan to reduce HIV transmissions by 2030. While we salute any effort to improve the American people’s health and stop this life-threatening illness, President Trump failed to give voice to the inherent connection between access to high-quality health care and our ability as a nation to combat HIV.
“The harsh reality for some HIV-infected individuals is that the treatments that are available to keep them alive are simply not an option because these men and women don’t have health insurance or otherwise can’t afford their life-saving treatments. Antiretroviral therapies are very expensive, as are HIV-PrEP medications that are an important tool in preventing transmission. The President can’t say he wants to stop HIV transmission while sabotaging the ability of people to get affordable, high-quality health insurance, which often is the key to life-saving treatments.
“The President spoke of high prescription drug costs. We applaud this effort and are watching carefully to see if he follows through in this promise to address the market failures that have allowed prices to rise astronomically for decades.
“We agree with President Trump that partisan politics must end, and that we must be united. We look to President Trump, the administration, and Congress to solve America’s ills — this is when our country will be truly ‘vibrant,” as the President Trump described it tonight. And America’s families deserve no less than that.”
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