Donald Trump and Senate Republicans found common ground at a private strategy session last week — agreeing Obamacare could help elect a GOP president and keep the upper chamber in GOP hands,
The Hill reports.
"I'm expecting big [premium] increases and for the Obama administration to try to hide them all the way through the election," the Senate Republican Policy Committee's chairman, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who was at last Thursday's closed-door meeting with presumptive nominee, tells The Hill.
"This healthcare law has been devastating to the Democratic Party."
Republicans are defending 24 seats in November — and Senate GOP leaders at the meeting predicted that fast-rising health insurance premiums will rile the public, The Hill reports.
Trump told the lawmakers he expects the administration might attempt to postpone the start of the [Affordable Care Act] enrollment period until after the elections, The Hill reports, citing unnamed senators who attended the sit-down.
And with insurers already filing proposed premium increases for next year, Trump and the Senate leaders agreed the public is beginning to balk at Obamacare, The Hill reports.
The fight may not be easy, The Hill reports.
"Senate Republicans are pushing to take away people's healthcare and go back to a time when women could be charged more than men for healthcare, you could get kicked off your plan when you got sick, and people hit lifetime caps on coverage," Sadie Weiner, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, tells The Hill.
But Barrasso is confident the healthcare fight will help Republicans in the long run — noting the GOP has picked up 13 Senate seats, 11 governorships, 69 House seats and over 900 state legislative seats across the country since Democrats passed the healthcare law.
"Costs continue to rise and insurers continue to leave state exchanges and cancel plans because Obamacare has regulated them out of the market," said Greg Blair, a spokesman for the National Republican Senate Committee.