Obamacare has been a "complete failure" that is continuing to collapse nationwide, and the new GOP plan to repeal and replace it is a much better option, Sen. John Barrasso, who is also a physician, said Wednesday.
"What I like about this is as promised, he repeals the mandates," said the Wyoming Republican on Fox News' "Happening Now." "It eliminates the taxes and the penalties, but it preserves the things that as a doctor, I think are very important. People with pre-existing conditions will be protected, there won't be any lifetime limits for people who are ill and also young people can stay on their parents' plan. I think those things are very, very important. This is a monumental shift away from Obamacare and toward the freedom and choice the patients want."
The new plan does contain a penalty provision that requires people to pay extra to get back on their insurance if they drop it for a period of time, but Barrasso said that is set up to protect patients who continue with their plans.
"We have seen so many people gaming the system under Obamacare, that's one of the reasons so many insurance companies say we're not going to sell any more," said Barrasso. "In my home state of Wyoming, we don't really have a choice. There's one person selling insurance, and because Obamacare is set up on such a terrible way, it's been bad for patients, it's been bad for doctors who are trying to take care of them, it's been bad for the taxpayers."
Barrasso said it is interesting that several members of the House Freedom Caucus have opposed the new plan, but they endorsed a plan that now-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price introduced while he was still a representative.
"I think it's important that we work together to repeal and replace Obamacare," said Barrasso. "That's what we campaigned on, that's what Donald Trump campaigned on. That was our pledge to the American people. As a doctor, I say I don't want to go back to where we were years ago when I was practicing medicine. We need to do health care reform. This is the right way to do it, by getting the power out of Washington and putting in the hands of the patients."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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