Former President Donald Trump is digging in on his plan to replace President Barack Obama’s health law with a “better” program, even as Democrats relish a revival of the Obamacare wars.
Mr. Trump appeared to blindside Republican lawmakers by promising over the weekend to revive the repeal-and-replace push if he is elected president in 2024.
His GOP allies reacted coolly, telling multiple news outlets that they haven’t seen a serious alternative that would pass in a divided Congress. But Mr. Trump isn’t backing down and took his pledge a step further in posts early Wednesday.
Mr. Trump said getting “much better Healthcare than Obamacare for the American people will be a priority of the Trump Administration.”
“It is not a matter of cost, it is a matter of HEALTH. America will have one of the best Healthcare Plans anywhere in the world. Right now it has one of the WORST!” he wrote.
Democrats are making hay with Mr. Trump’s pronouncements. The GOP’s failure to scrap Obamacare in 2017 led to liberal wins in the following midterm election cycle.
The law has entrenched itself across the country, with red and purple states opting to accept federal Obamacare dollars that allow them to expand eligibility for Medicaid — the government insurance program for the poor.
North Carolina will make up to 600,000 people newly eligible for Medicaid on Friday.
Mr. Trump, who frequently railed against the policies of his predecessor — Mr. Obama — says the point is to find a replacement for the program that’s been dogged by high premiums.
“I don’t want to terminate Obamacare, I want to REPLACE IT with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE. Obamacare Sucks!!!” he wrote.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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