Trump: Obamacare Is 'Dead'
Donald Trump says it's over: Obamacare is "dead.” The president made the announcement in a Cabinet meeting on Monday that the Affordable Care Act established by his predecessor should not be mentioned anymore.
Speaking out against the health care act he pledged to repeal and replace during his presidential election campaign, the president said he had never believed it could be a success. "Obamacare is finished. It's dead. It's gone," Trump said at the meeting, in comments reported by The Hill.
"You shouldn't even mention it. It's gone. There is no such thing as Obamacare anymore. It is a, and I said this years ago, it's a concept that couldn't have worked,” he added, despite Obamacare continuing on and open enrollment running from November 1 to December 15.
His comments come as the administration continues to work to dismantle the law, following a failed Senate vote to repeal and replace the legislation in July, a failure for which Trump has openly blamed Senator John McCain, who joined Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski in voting against the repeal bill.
“You look at McCain—what McCain has done is a tremendous slap in the face to the Republican Party. Tremendous. He was good to go all the way up until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning when he voted.... Without John McCain, we already have the health care,” the president stated in an Alabama radio interview in September.
Over the past week, Trump’s administration has taken steps to pull apart the Obamacare legislation, announcing an end to health care cost-sharing subsidies. The president tweeted on October 13: “The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!”
The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017
His decision to end the payouts to insurers that sell Obamacare plans prompted a backlash from Democrats, along with concerns over the future of the people using Obamacare exchanges to purchase their insurance. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a joint statement: "It is a spiteful act of vast, pointless sabotage leveled at working families and the middle class in every corner of America.”
"Make no mistake about it, Trump will try to blame the Affordable Care Act, but this will fall on his back and he will pay the price for it,” the statement added.
Related Articles
