Repealing and replacing Obamacare is more than just a matter of politics, but a matter of solving a system that is collapsing on itself, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday.
"Obamacare, in essence, was two major items — the exchanges and the expansion of Medicaid," McCarthy told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "If you look at the exchanges today, one-third of this country, 1,022 counties only have one provider and others are pulling out. So we know that's collapsing upon itself. The 23 co-ops that were created, 18 of those have already collapsed."
In addition, when examining Medicaid expansion over a 10-year window, "it's going to cost $1 trillion for one year," McCarthy said. "$1 trillion is the equivalent of about as much as we spend for all discretionary government spending, so you know that is not sustainable."
There are some parts of the program that the president wants to remain protected, McCarthy continued, including pre-existing conditions, a ban on lifetime limits, and allowing people aged 26 and younger to stay on their parents' plans.
"Start with the set of principles that government isn't dictating the plan, that individuals can go into the market, so you build up the marketplace and actually have choice," the California Republican said. "I mean when you talk to my constituents with Medicaid not every doctor takes it. And think about how long that waiting list is for specialists. And you want to spend $1 trillion on that health care? Or do you want to find health care that actually works for the individual?"
McCarthy also said he disagrees with former House Speaker John Boehner's contention that Obamacare will be repaired, not replaced.
"Remember what the ACA did, it empowered the Health & Human Services secretary," McCarthy said. "There's 1,400 pages just dealing with the secretary of their empowerment. So we will deal and repeal it but also replace elements."
New HHS Secretary Tom Price has a great deal of leeway, and can do a tremendous amount, McCarthy said, "and then we'll move the other bills that take 60 votes and let the American people decide what's best for moving forward.