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15 Sassy “Pre-Existing Condition” Memes & Tweets

by Natasha Guzmán
Mark Makela/Getty Images News/Getty Images

“It’s Thursday,” President Trump tweeted in 2014. “How many people have lost their healthcare today?” The tweet was shared thousands of times this week after 217 Republican congressmembers voted — on Thursday, funnily enough — in favor of the American Health Care Act, sending it on its way to the Senate. Though the AHCA is highly unpopular for a long list of reasons — including, but not limited to, the fact that it provides huge tax cuts to the rich, slashes Medicaid federal funding, attacks women’s healthcare in numerous ways, and reduces tax credits for most Americans — one particular component of the bill has dominated headlines over the past week: inadequate coverage for pre-existing conditions. As expected, the internet responded to Thursday’s news with a slew of memes roasting the AHCA and calling out Republicans.

The hashtag #IAmAPreExistingCondition, through which thousands of people shared their stories of having conditions the AHCA would most likely not cover, went viral soon after the House vote was announced. One legislator sparked a series of memes dedicated solely to him after casting a vote in favor of the healthcare plan right after having benefited from a fully-covered surgery resulting from a pre-existing condition. Though there’s no shortage of awesome tweets responding to the Trump administration’s latest move, here are just a few standouts…

1. Best Example Of The GOP's Hypocrisy Ever?

Congressman Jason Chaffetz became the instant subject of memes after he shared an article characterizing him as a "team player for Republicans" for rolling up to the AHCA vote on a scooter following a foot surgery. Ironically, Chaffetz, who receives health coverage through the Obamacare marketplace as is required for members of Congress, had just received care for a pre-existing condition. This didn't stop the Utah congressman from voting in favor of the AHCA, which would allow insurers to raise premiums and give states the option to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.

2. The Fact That This Even Needs To Be Said...

If passed by the Senate, the AHCA would allow insurers to opt out of providing women coverage for contraception, abortions, and maternity and newborn care; as previously mentioned, the law would also give states the right to exclude those with pre-existing conditions from those considered "insurable" — such conditions might include pregnancy, menstrual irregularities, and C-sections. With these "conditions" often being unavoidable for biologically female women, Trumpcare essentially classifies being female as a pre-existing condition.

3. Too Real

It's almost like the AHCA was inspired by the Pawnee healthcare plan.

4. Got Bootstraps?

The caricature in this cartoon is actually what members some of the GOP sound like.

5. Trumpcare In A Nutshell

This is actually what they did.

6. Hmmm

Very convenient.

7. Yep

Especially since President Trump repeatedly promised that Americans with pre-existing conditions would be covered in his Obamacare repeal.

8. Does She Count?

Wondering if this Catholic nun qualifies her as one of those people leading "good lives" who Rep. Mo Brooks finds worthy of health coverage.

9. Nothing New

The AHCA is exactly what anyone who payed attention to Trump's antics over the past year should've expected.

10. You Played Yourself

Yep. According to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the top 10 states in terms of pre-existing conditions all voted for Trump in the election.

11. WWJD?

Given the fact that the 99 percent of Republicans currently in the House are Christian — Lee Zelvin and David Kustoff, both Jewish, are the only exceptions — this tweet is especially poignant.

12. Broken Promithes, Promithes

In case you haven't heard, Mexico will, in fact, not be paying for Trump's wall.

13. Nice Going

This surely won't help his already low favorability ratings.

14. Makes Sense

In February, House Republicans blocked an Obama-era gun control measure which would have mandated the Social Security Administration to report Americans with severe mental illnesses and who receive disability benefits to the FBI’s background check database — the system referred to in order to determine an individual's eligibility to purchase firearms. If the AHCA becomes law, these same people would have a much harder time accessing the care they need than they would accessing guns.

15. Accurate

Wonder if the man under that sheet voted for Trump.

The AHCA will reportedly undergo some changes in the Senate. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner told CNN's Jake Tapper that the bill has "no chance in Senate" and that he hopes "folks in both parties can sit down and try to fix it because we are playing with people's, not just healthcare but in many ways with their lives." A date for the voting session has yet to be set.