Former President Barack Obama said at an event in New York on Wednesday it is "aggravating" to see lawmakers try to unravel Obamacare, The Hill reported.
"Those of you who live in countries that already have universal healthcare are trying to figure out what's the controversy here – I am too," Obama said during his speech at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's "Goalkeepers" event.
Later, he added: "Now, the legislation that we passed was full of things that still need to be fixed. It wasn't perfect. It was better. And so when I see people trying to undo that hard-won progress, for the 50th or 60th time, with bills that would raise costs, or reduce coverage, or roll back protections for older Americans or people with preexisting conditions — the cancer survivor, the expecting mom, or the child with autism or asthma for whom coverage once again be almost unattainable — it is aggravating."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell plans to bring the GOP's latest legislative effort to replace the Affordable Care Act up for a vote in the Senate next week. The Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill, written by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., would give much of the money now directed to Obamacare to state governments to spend.