GOP'er: People who lead good lives don't have pre-existing conditions

Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., is a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, which helped scuttle the first Trumpcare bill, because it wasn't severe enough. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., is a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, which helped scuttle the first Trumpcare bill, because it wasn't severe enough. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close GOP'er: People who lead good lives don't have pre-existing conditions 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

If you lead a good life, you'll have nothing to worry about under the revised Trumpcare legislation, an Alabama congressman says.

During an interview Monday with CNN's Jake Tapper, Rep. Mo Brooks said, "My understanding is that (the new proposal) will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool.

"That helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they're healthy, they've done the things to keep their bodies healthy. And right now, those are the people — who've done things the right way — that are seeing their costs skyrocketing."

Yes, it's those "bad" people with their strokes, heart defects, Parkinson Disease and brain tumors who are ruining it for the rest of us. Force them to pay more, the Alabama Republican says.

Trump has assured Americans that those with pre-existing conditions would not have to worry about having their coverage slashed or rendered unaffordable. But under the current House bill, states would be able to give providers license to effectively deny insurance to anyone with a pre-existing condition by assigning those individuals into high-risk pools. Those ending up in, say, a cancer pool, could see their premiums rise by tens of thousands of dollars a year, up to $142,000 a year.

A pre-existing condition is defined as any medical condition that existed prior to enrolling in health insurance. Asthma or even a pregnancy could qualify as a pre-existing condition.

A few weeks ago Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) argued that it was unfair for generally healthy people to subsidize he cost of people who require medical care, which is, of course, how insurance works. Brooks seemed to be making the same argument.

However, later in the interview, he backpedaled.

"In fairness, a lot of these people with pre-existing conditions, they have those conditions through no fault of their own," Brooks said. "And I think our society, under those circumstances, needs to help."

Under the Affordable Care Act, society does help. If the House Republicans' Obamacare replacement becomes law, it seems clear that it would help less.