DeSantis says he would pass bill to ‘replace’ Obamacare
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Sunday that if elected president, he would pursue legislation that would “replace” the Affordable Care Act, echoing comments by former President Donald J. Trump that Democrats used last week made of.
“What I think they need to do is have a plan that will replace Obamacare, that will lower prices for people so they can afford health care, while also making sure that people with pre-existing conditions are protected,” Mr. DeSantis said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He went on to say that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act was a broken promise from Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“We’re going to look at the big institutions that are causing prices to be high – big pharmaceutical companies, big insurance and big government – but it’s going to have to be where you have a reform package that’s going to be put in place,” he said. “Obamacare promised lower premiums. It didn’t deliver,” he added. “We know we have to go in a different direction, but we will do that by having a plan that can replace this.”
Mr Trump called for the same thing last week: writing on his social media platform that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to the Affordable Care Act. After President Biden’s campaign denounced the statement, Mr. Trump wrote: “I don’t want to end Obamacare, I want to replace it with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE. Obamacare sucks!!!”
Mr. DeSantis mentioned two specific policies he would address: making health care costs public so consumers can compare prices, and lowering insurance premiums for people who choose cheaper providers. He called coverage for pre-existing conditions, a key part of the Affordable Care Act, “an easy thing that we will agree on.”
Beyond that and a list of principles – “more transparency, more consumer choice, more affordable options, less red tape” – he didn’t go into depth about his plan. Of the more than 40 million Americans covered by ACA plans, he said, “We will have a plan that provides them with coverage, so the coverage will be different and better, but they will still be able to be covered.”
He said he would come up with a full proposal “probably in the spring,” after a majority of states have held their primaries or caucuses.
Although opposition to the Affordable Care Act was initially a voting driver for Republicans, the law has become much more popular over the years, and Republicans’ failed attempt to repeal the law in 2017 helped Democrats win the election of 2018.
This was evident from a KFF poll in May 59 percent of Americans supported Mr. DeSantis and Trump’s calls to replace it, could work well in the Republican primaries — only 26 percent of Republicans support the health care law, according to the poll — but could become a problem in the general election because 89 percent of Republicans support the health care law. Democrats and 62 percent of independents support the health care law.
The Democratic National Committee condemned Mr. DeSantis’ comments.
“DeSantis is determined to spread his failed ‘Florida Blueprint’ across the country, even as it has contributed to some of the highest health care costs in America and left hundreds of thousands of hardworking Floridians without insurance,” said Sarafina Chitika, a spokeswoman for the DNC. “If Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans have their way, they would skyrocket premiums to line the pockets of greedy health care executives and their wealthy friends.”
Florida is one of them 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and had one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the country last year, the Census Bureau said.