House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday that the Republican health care legislation will be out of the Senate by fall.
“It’s not going to turn on overnight. It takes a couple of years to put a new plan in place. It took about six years for Obamacare to get put up in the first place,” Mr. Ryan said on Fox News.
“The legislation should not take that long,” he said. “Hopefully, it takes a month or two to get it through the Senate. Hopefully, it takes a month or two cause we need to give people the ability to plan. The insurers are pulling out very, very quickly. And we need to show the insurers that there’s a better system coming, so stay in the market.”
Mr. Ryan also pushed back against claims that the Republicans didn’t show their members the plan until they were ready to pass the bill.
“Our bill was online for a couple of months,” he said adding that the additional amendments were not available in that time frame because they were last-minute add-ons.
Mr. Ryan did say that President Trump understands the time frame of the new legislation despite his pushing to get it done.
SEE ALSO: Senate Republicans revise House’s ‘repeal and replace’ health care bill
“That’s great. I love the fact that he wants to get things done for the American people. He’s pushing us hard,” the speaker said.
And in the meantime, House Republicans are moving on to taxes, which Mr. Ryan also said will be done by the end of this year.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.