President Donald Trump formally kicked off his bid for a second term on June 18 in Orlando, Fla.
Here are three healthcare highlights from the rally:
1. He promised to protect people with preexisting conditions. "We will always protect patients with preexisting conditions, always," President Trump said, according to The Washington Post. However, President Trump put a lot of force in his first term behind efforts to dismantle the ACA, which includes health insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions. The administration chose not to defend the ACA in a 20-state lawsuit seeking to dismantle the healthcare law. President Trump has committed to protecting people with preexisting conditions before, and CMS Administrator Seema Verma claimed the administration has "contingency plans" if the law is repealed.
2. He vowed to find a cure for cancer. "We will come up with the cures to many, many problems," President Trump said, according to STAT. "Many, many diseases — including cancer." These comments came after his son, Donald Trump Jr., highlighted the efforts of one of President Trump's Democratic opponents, Joe Biden: "Why the hell didn't you do that [cure cancer] over the last 50 years, Joe?"
As vice president during the Obama administration, Mr. Biden led a cancer "moonshot" initiative to improve cancer care and advance cancer research. The initiative created a task force with members from the Department of Defense, HHS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the FDA, the National Cancer Institute, NIH and the National Science Foundation. After leaving office, Mr. Biden launched the Biden Cancer Initiative, STAT notes.
President Trump earmarked $500 million for pediatric cancer research in the 2019 State of the Union address, but he has also reduced funding for the National Cancer Institute by $900 million, STAT reports.
3. He highlighted veterans' healthcare. "We passed VA Choice," President Trump said, according to The Hill. The report notes former President Barack Obama passed the Veterans Choice Act in 2014 to allow veterans to seek care from private providers, as a response to the VA wait-time scandal. President Trump passed the VA Mission Act, which expanded private care options. "You go out now, you get a doctor, you fix yourself up, the doctor sends us the bill, we pay for it. And you know what? It doesn't matter because the life and the veteran is more important, but we also happen to save a lot of money doing that," he said.
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