The issue of pre-existing medical conditions is politically potent.

If you listen to any Democratic politician speak in the lead-up to the midterms, the term pre-existing conditions occurs again and again. There is a reason. People fear being overwhelmed by sky high  medical costs.

But what if the GOP is actually moving in the direction of helping people with pre-existing conditions with some pracitical policy changes more than those who constantly invoke the issue on the campaign trail?

Mary Vought, mother of a child with pre-existing conditions, has an illuminating piece in this morning's New York Post detailing ways the administration it helping people like her child.

Ms. Vought husband, is a Deputy Director of OMB, but she speaks as a mother.

She cites three practical ways the administration is making it easier for people with pre-existing conditions:  expanded access to prescription drugs, access to more coverage options, greater state-level Medicaid flexibility.

Let's address two of these options.

Making available short-term, limited insurance policies that cover catastrophic illnesses may not seem to help people with pre-existing conditions. Democrats have denounced such policies.

But they make it possible for more people to remain insured at costs they can afford. Remaining consistently insured means that if somebody develops a serious medical condition, it won't be a pre-existing condition. Insurance would kick in and the issue simply would not exist for an individual holding one of these more afforedable policies.

Vought writes:

To individuals who can’t afford pricey ObamaCare plans, changes to short-term, limited-duration insurance will give alternatives with more reasonable rates — and a guarantee that they can maintain their coverage should they develop a costly illness that requires treatment after their plans’ expiration date.

Placing politics over people and sticking to their “ObamaCare or nothing” mentality, Democrats in Washington, and in the states, have actually worked to block access to these plans.

On Medicaid flexibility on the state level, Vought writes:

Third, the administration’s embrace of state flexibility in Medicaid will transform that program. By approving work requirements and other innovative waivers requested by states, Team Trump is letting local officials move to get able-bodied adults off welfare and into work.

The changes will also help return the Medicaid program’s focus to the populations for which it was originally designed: those who are ill and too poor to afford care and to the disabled.

Disability groups aligned with Democrats didn’t mention it at the time, but ObamaCare effectively created a two-tier Medicaid system — with individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable populations at the back of the line.

States will have more money to spend on the poor and sick for whom Medicaid was designed.

These reforms are piecemeal and may seem plodding. But they would help ensure that millions more Americans are able to afford insurance and obtain health care.

But they lack something liberals love. Vought writes:

Democrats have tried to make Tuesday’s elections about health care. As with most issues, they equate government spending with success — liberals claim they care more than conservatives because they spend more of other people’s hard-earned money.

IWF's Policy Focus on pre-existing conditions addresses misconceptions about the issue and puts forward some other solutions.