Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Tuesday he thinks the House GOP’s health care plan unveiled Monday will cover more people than Obamacare — but offered a distinction between individuals’ getting health “insurance” and health “care.”
“We really think it will cover more,” Mr. Mulvaney said on “CBS This Morning.”
“Keep in mind — it’s easy to claim success under Obamacare when you had a government mandate because you could sort of say, well everybody’s covered,” he said.
“But is that really the question?” Mr. Mulvaney said. “The question is not if you get sick, you don’t really care if you have insurance — you care whether or not you can get health care.”
“And that’s [where] we think Obamacare came up so short. It created a system where it was affordable to buy insurance but not affordable to actually go to the doctor,” he said.
“We think the system that the House introduced last night that we worked … very closely with the House in support actually provides more affordable health care for people so when they do get sick, they can afford to go to the doctor,” Mr. Mulvaney said.
SEE ALSO: Republican Health care plan details repeal of Obamacare mandate, taxes
The House GOP plan would do away with Obamacare’s individual mandate that most Americans purchase health insurance or pay a penalty, while offering age-based tax credits to help people pay for insurance on the private market, among other provisions.
It would also retain a few more popular items like protections against discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions and allowing younger Americans to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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