May 4, Trump’s 105th day in office, the AHCA or “Trumpcare” was passed by the House. The vote ended with a narrow win for the bill, with the House divided 213-217, and twenty Republicans abandoned their loyalty by voting against the bill.

One of the major issues many people see with the AHCA is its plan for pre-existing conditions. Under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, insurance companies could not charge patients with pre-existing conditions more for their policies than they charge patients without pre-existing conditions for policies. Under the AHCA, insurance companies will not but be able to deny health coverage based on a pre-existing condition, but they will be able to increase rates for patients with pre-existing conditions. The proposed bill allows states to opt-out of the pre-existing condition protections put in place under the Affordable Care Act and place such patients in “high-risk pools” instead. By placing patients in a high-risk pool, insurance companies can charge patients with pre-existing conditions a greater fee, sometimes charging so much patients are unable to afford health insurance.

Pre-existing Conditions under the AHCA include but are not limited to:

• AIDS and HIV
• Alzheimer’s and dementia
• Anorexia
• Arthritis
• Bulimia
• Cancer
• Mental disorders (including anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia)
• Obesity
• Pregnancy or expectant parent (including fathers)
• Transsexualism

This bill has currently only been passed by the House of Representatives and still has to go through the Senate.