This week, Donald Trump and the GOP falsely claimed that the latest Trumpcare bill “guarantees” coverage for pre-existing conditions. What they failed to disclose was that the bill would grant states the ability to waiver coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, and when pushed, they wrongly claim that the creation of “high-risk pools” would allow those with pre-existing conditions to still be covered.

High-risk pools are an insufficient solution for those with pre-existing conditions who would lose their coverage because of Trumpcare.

Here’s the truth about high-risk pools:

1. They have been tried and they don’t work.
2. They were notorious for high premiums and deductibles.
3. They made it near impossible for many of our country’s most vulnerable to afford medical care.
4. No matter how well funded they are, people with pre-existing conditions will be worse off than they are under the ACA.

Even Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Fred Upton (before he flip-flopped) see the problem with this muddled attempt of a fix:

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen: Even $50 billion in new funding for high-risk pools would be “a little baby downpayment.”

Rep. Fred Upton: An amendment increasing funding for high-risk pools would “not do the trick” in terms of protecting people with pre-existing conditions.

The media agrees: 

Los Angeles Times: High-risk pools “were almost universally unsuccessful before the advent of Obamacare.”

Politico: Before the ACA, most states’ high-risk pools “didn’t work, leaving countless people with cancer, diabetes and other expensive diseases with inadequate coverage – if they had anything at all.”