The president of the American Medical Association is calling on the Trump administration to protect Americans who have health insurance in any Obamacare replacement plan.
The American Medical Association has advocated for health care coverage for all Americans in the past. The group's president, Andrew Gurman, says it plans to work with the Trump administration and Congress on health care reform, focusing their efforts on expanding coverage for the uninsured and protecting existing coverage for Americans.
"A core principle is that any new reform proposal should not cause individuals currently covered to become uninsured," Gurman said. "We will also advance recommendations to support the delivery of high-quality patient care."
"Policy makers have a notable opportunity to also reduce excessive regulatory burdens that diminish physicians' time devoted to patient care and increase costs," he said.
Trump said in an interview on 60 Minutes that any replacement plan he signs will not leave Americans without coverage.
Trump has said that he wants to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, with a plan that would keep two of its popular provisions—guaranteeing coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions and allowing young people to stay on their parents' health care plans until they are 26.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) has said that these provisions are already included in the "A Better Way" replacement plan promoted by Republican leadership.
The American Medical Association supports guaranteed issue, renewability of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and allowing young people to stay on their parents' plans until they are 28. The group also supports expanding insurance coverage through tax credits.
Trump's vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has been criticized by President Obama, who has asserted that millions of Americans would lose coverage under the proposed replacement plan.
"Now, suddenly, you're in charge and you're going to repeal it," Obama said during a November 14 press conference. "Okay, well, what happens to those 20 million people who have health insurance? Are you going to just kick them off and suddenly they don't have health insurance?"
"If, on the other hand, whatever they're proposing results in millions of people losing coverage, and results in people who already have health insurance losing protections that were contained in the legislation, then we're going to have a problem," Obama said.