Healthcare

Trump: Group of GOP senators writing ‘spectacular’ ObamaCare replacement

Stefani Reynolds

President Trump said Thursday that a group of GOP senators will come up with a “spectacular” plan to replace ObamaCare if the courts strike down the law.

Trump told reporters at the White House that lawmakers including Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are working on the plan, at Trump’s request.

{mosads}”We’ve put together a group of four or five,” Trump said. “Bill Cassidy is a terrific health care person, and they are going to work together to come up with something that’s really spectacular, maybe we’ll even get support in the House from Democrats, but it’s going to be far better than ObamaCare.”

Trump is hoping that Democrats will be forced to come to the table if the courts strike down ObamaCare, as his administration called for in a surprise legal filing Monday that has set off days of controversy.

But many legal experts in both parties expect the case will ultimately fail, meaning that the opportunity to replace the law that Trump imagines will never come to pass.

Democrats are in control of the House, preventing any ObamaCare repeal and replacement from getting through unless the Supreme Court eventually struck down the law, which most experts view as very unlikely.

Trump, though, said he was hoping to win in court.

“We’re working on a plan now,” Trump said when asked for a timeline on his plan.  “There’s no very great rush from the standpoint we’re waiting for decisions in the court.”

“If the decisions help up, if we win on the termination of ObamaCare, we will have a plan that’s far better than ObamaCare, including, very importantly, pre-existing conditions,” Trump said.

Cassidy previously worked on a replacement plan in 2017 along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that did not win enough GOP support for passage in the Senate.

Trump said he would protect people with pre-existing conditions.

The previous Graham-Cassidy plan, as well as the House GOP plan in 2017, had controversial provisions allowing states to waive the protection that prevents people with pre-existing conditions being charged much higher premiums.  

Tags Bill Cassidy Donald Trump John Barrasso Lindsey Graham

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