MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle pointed out on Tuesday that under the Republican health care plan women are treated as if their gender is a pre-existing condition.
During a Tuesday panel on MSNBC, journalism professor Jeff Jarvis noted that late night host Jimmy Kimmel's recent plea for Congress to cover pre-existing conditions had hit a nerve with the American people.
"The other thing that has happened is the 'I am a pre-existing condition' hashtag," Jarvis said. "I was there on Twitter saying I had prostate cancer and thyroid cancer and a heart condition -- more than you ever wanted to know -- but I'm out there in public, other people are out there in public. They're going to be affected and hurt. Jimmy Kimmel is out there, his kid has a pre-existing condition for the rest of his life."
As the segment ended, Ruhle got in the last word.
"Jeff Jarvis doesn't get to win the pre-existing condition battle," she said. "Because you're on my show and I too have a pre-existing condition, I'm a woman."
Under President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, insurance companies could not charge women more if they had previously had experienced sexual assault, pregnancy, infertility or other reproductive issues. However, the recently-passed GOP bill which is backed by President Donald Trump would undermine those rules by allowing states to waive protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Watch the video below from MSNBC, broadcast May 9, 2017.
