Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday said that nobody is going to “fall through the cracks” as Republicans move to repeal and replace Obamacare, and he said President Trump clearly laid out a framework of ideas on health care in his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday.
“We’ve made repealing [and] replacing Obamacare the number one priority of this Congress,” Mr. Pence said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“And what you saw the president do last night is what the American people like to see presidents do,” he said, saying the president laid out the problem and then described the framework for a solution.
Asked if the president can guarantee people with coverage now won’t lose it, Mr. Pence said: “I think the president’s made it clear to Congress that particularly when it comes to the most vulnerable population … the Medicaid population, we don’t want anyone to fall through the cracks.”
“You heard him mention tax credits last night,” Mr. Pence said. “What the president wants the Congress to do is to create a framework for people to be able to afford coverage.”
“And then lastly, you heard him talk about creating a national marketplace — allowing Americans to buy health insurance across state lines, focusing on lowering the cost of health insurance rather than mandating that people buy government-approved health insurance,” he said.
Asked again if no one would lose coverage, Mr. Pence said: “I think the president’s made it clear: No one is going to fall through the cracks in this.”
“And we worked with state governors this weekend to make sure, as we said, the most disadvantaged citizens among us are going to be able to rely on having the kind of programs, but better programs,” he said.
Mr. Pence said overall that the president delivered a “great speech.”
“But more importantly, it was a great night for America,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.