Former President Barack Obama slammed the Senate GOP’s plan to replace his health care law Thursday, saying it’s time to “step back” and devise the type of plan that Americans need, as the signature program he crafted suffers from rising premiums and dwindling choices.
The GOP plan, unveiled Thursday, would gut much of the Affordable Care Act, including its heavy mandates and taxes, while slashing Medicaid coverage and offering a new form of tax credits that are less generous than Obamacare’s.
“The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America,” Mr. Obama said on Facebook. “It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else.”
Mr. Obama said he realizes that repealing and replacing his namesake law is a “core tenet” for Republicans.
“Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure what’s really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did,” he wrote.
Mr. Obama also took a veiled swipe at Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s drafting process, which took place behind closed doors without any hearings.
“We didn’t fight for the Affordable Care Act for more than a year in the public square for any personal or political gain —we fought for it because we knew it would save lives, prevent financial misery, and ultimately set this country we love on a better, healthier course,” he said in his post.
Mr. Obama promised to reshape health care with his 2010 law, saying new online exchanges would usher in an age of competition and lower premiums.
Yet enrollment fell short of expectations, and those who did sign up tended to be sicker, forcing insurers to increase their rates or exit the program altogether.
Republicans have used Obamacare’s struggles to rally support for repeal, saying the status quo is unsustainable.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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