Dems blast Trump for trying to ‘sabotage’ ObamaCare

Top Democrats blasted the Trump administration on Thursday for moving to slash funding for ObamaCare advertising and enrollment outreach.

“The Trump administration is deliberately attempting to sabotage our health care system. When the number of people with health insurance declines and costs skyrocket, the American people will know who’s to blame,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

Trump Admin is deliberately sabotaging our healthcare system. When number of insured drops & costs rise, American ppl will know who to blame https://t.co/CiVvqphiWE

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 31, 2017

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Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials announced Thursday that the administration would cut the $100 million spent on outreach efforts last year to $10 million this year, as the program continues to lose insurers and produce “diminishing returns,” an official said. 

President Trump has said he will wait for the health care law to “implode” and force a bipartisan repeal further down the road. GOP efforts to repeal the law collapsed in the Senate in late July.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also pushed for bipartisan efforts on health care in a statement Thursday, saying “Republicans should join with Democrats to stabilize the marketplaces for 2018, including by guaranteeing Cost Sharing Reduction payments and ensuring Americans looking for affordable coverage know all the options available to them.” 

“The Trump Administration’s cynical effort to lower enrollment will create chaos in the health marketplaces and increase premiums for millions of American families,” Pelosi said.

“Republicans should be shoring up markets, not denying consumers their right to full information about health plans and yanking away tens of millions of dollars of expected funding from Navigators, just two months before open enrollment begins.”

The Senate Health Committee is slated to hold several hearings starting next week as lawmakers push for a bipartisan bill to stabilize ObamaCare’s exchanges.