Donald Trump's new healthcare bill will raise fees for pregnant women but not men with erectile dysfunction

Insurance providers have previously raised premiums for some women, including domestic violence victims and rape survivors

Donald Trump said his healthcare proposal was a 'great plan' (Getty)

Donald Trump’s new healthcare bill will allow insurance companies to charge higher fees to women who have had children than to men with conditions like erectile dysfunction.

Under the US President's plans, insurance companies will once again be allowed to use “pre-existing conditions” as a reason to deny people coverage.

That had been made illegal under Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act – commonly known as Obamacare.

Mr Trump's attempt to scrap the policy and replace it with a new bill, the American Health Care Act, cleared its first hurdle earlier this week after it was narrowly passed by the House of Representatives.

While the list of “pre-existing conditions” does not include erectile dysfunction, insurance providers have previously raised premiums for some women, including domestic violence victims and rape survivors.

Critics have pointed out that other conditions on the list disproportionately or solely affect women, including pregnancy, a past Caesarian-section operation, infertility treatment and postnatal depression.

One estimate suggests a past pregnancy would increase a woman’s insurance premium by $17,060 (£13,200) – a 425 per cent rise.

Mr Trump has repeatedly vowed to repeal the Obamacare scheme but was halted at his first attempt after failing to persuade enough Republicans in Congress to back his plans for a replacement.

However, the revised bill was passed by the House of Representatives by a majority of just four after 217 members voted for it and 213 voted against.

The bill must now pass through the Senate, where it is expected to be met with fresh opposition.

Mr Trump said his healthcare proposal was “a great plan [that] will get even better”.

"It could change a little bit, maybe even [get] better”, he said. “It's a very good bill right now. The premiums are going to come down very substantially, the deductibles are going to come down. It's going to be fantastic health care.

“We're going to have great health care very soon. Obamacare is failing, the insurance companies are leaving, [insurance provider] Aetna just announced they're out from Obamacare. Some states, you look at a lot of states, a lot of different states, you look at Tennessee, you look at Kentucky is now in trouble. Iowa's in trouble, the insurance companies are all leaving."