Trump calls House health bill 'mean'

Adjust Comment Print

Before shots fired in Alexandria interrupted all normal news, a story that was gaining interest involves the president's reported comments at a meeting with Republican senators calling the House-passed American Health Care Act "mean" and a "son-of-a-bitch".

Trump reportedly talked about having a bill come out of the Senate that protects people with preexisting conditions and having a tax credit that works for low income elderly Americans, according to the story originally reported by the Associated Press.

Senator John Thune (R-SD) said that although the Senate would like to repeal all of Obamacare's taxes, they would still like to consider all of their options. During a ceremony at the Rose Garden, Trump praised the bill as "an incredible healthcare plan" and "something very, very incredibly well-crafted", according to the White House.

After a dismal first-effort failure in the House of Representatives to repeal so-called Obamacare, and some political side-stepping to finally push through a replacement bill, the Senate apparently is drafting its own version of the health-coverage program, with only a handful of senators knowing what the bill would likely do, or how it would be financed.

Conservative Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) admitted that passing a Senate health care bill will involve making some tough choices.

This secretive process, involves only the leaders of the Republican Party.

"Americans won't forget that @HouseGOP passed a "mean" bill to rip healthcare from millions then celebrated @ the WH", said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.

Trump has also vaguely suggested investing more money into the reform to make the USA health care system "the best anywhere", something that may throw conservative Republicans who want to use the law to reduce the budget deficit further. Still, they'll be hard for the GOP to dodge as it prepares the AHCA for a Senate vote by July 4.

The London inferno - could it happen here?
More than 1 million pounds have been raised to help those affected by the massive blaze which ripped through the building. There is no way that rich people would be living in a building without adequate fire safety.

This is a tonal shift for Trump, who initially called for "insurance for everybody" on the campaign trail but threw his support fully behind the House's bill.

"We want to brag about the plan", Trump said.

The remarks nevertheless provided ammunition to Democrats who have unanimously opposed the Republican effort to dismantle President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Considering a number of offsets and spending, over the next decade the bill would save the government a total of $119 billion. "We are now so far from regular order, the new members don't even know what it looks like", she said.

On Tuesday, reporters were temporarily barred from interviewing senators in Senate hallways without prior permission from the Senate Rules Committee. That bill was widely criticized for allowing states to seek waivers from insurance protections for people with pre-existing health conditions. "Many of you are here because you pledged to cast this vote".

The quandary facing Trump and the Republicans is that Obamacare, with all of its flaws, is vastly more popular than Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's cruel healthcare concoction.

If Republicans are intent on doubling down on the Democrats' mistakes, how do they expect the product to be any better?

Others say they fear senators and the public will have little time to understand a final proposal when and if it is released.

Comments