Obamacare has been "roundly disappointing" to many Americans, and it can't keep going forward as it is, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who has joined forces with three other senators to introduce the Patient Freedom Act as an alternative that puts healthcare back in the hands of states and patients.
"It is possible and it will be done," the West Virginia Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" Friday of President Donald Trump's call for change that still means insurance coverage for Americans. "The bottom line here is we have to look at what Obamacare, how it has been so roundly disappointing to people in my state of West Virginia and across the country."
Capito said the act, proposed along with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana; Sen. Margaret Collins, R-Maine; and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, will allow "better health outcomes, to do it more efficiently, to give more choices and hopefully to control the cost as well," and she thinks it puts lawmakers on the right path while considering repeal and replace options.
And even though Democrats are opposing the repeal measures, Capito said it's important to make sure Americans remain covered while the repeal occurs.
"Healthcare to people is like food on the table," said Capito. "It is an essential to make sure for quality of life, for living to make sure you can get the best healthcare. So I know how deeply personal healthcare is to everybody and I think we all realize it."
West Virginia has expanded Medicaid protection for its population, and Capito insisted she does not want to leave recipients in the cold.
"We have to figure out a plan that continues and transitions them as well as those who are on the exchanges and others, but we also have to look at what this is doing to premiums and deductibles, to cost," said Capito. "It is not resulting in people using the healthcare system because they've basically can't afford it, so there is lots of upside here."
She said she thinks Democrats are jumping on the repeal and replace measures because they "know what a disaster they created by using one party, one system, not looking at all the ideas ... obviously they didn't do a very good job to begin with."
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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