House

Pelosi: Trump delusional to think he repealed ObamaCare

by Mike Lillis - 12/21/17 1:24 PM ET

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that, despite claims to the contrary, President Trump did not repeal ObamaCare as part of the Republicans’ newly passed tax-reform package.

“The president is under some other illusion that he has repealed the Affordable Care Act,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “He’s damaged it, but he hasn’t repealed it.

“I don’t know if he knows that.”

A day earlier, Trump and scores of Republicans had gathered outside the White House to celebrate their biggest victory under the new administration: an overhaul of the tax code that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has sought since arriving in Washington almost two decades ago. No Democrats supported the bill. {mosads}

To sweeten the package for some conservatives, Senate GOP leaders included a provision repealing ObamaCare’s individual mandate — the requirement that people purchase health insurance or pay an annual penalty to the IRS.

The mandate has been a crucial component of the so-called three-legged stool at the core of ObamaCare. (The other two are the requirement that insurers offer same-price plans to those with pre-existing conditions, and the federal subsidies allowing low-income patients to comply with the mandate). Supporters have warned that removing any one leg would topple the whole structure.

Trump and the Republicans suffered an embarrassing defeat earlier in the year when they couldn’t find the GOP votes to pass a full ObamaCare repeal. Trump on Wednesday seized on the elimination of the mandate in his White House speech, saying he “essentially” made good on his campaign promise to sink ObamaCare in its entirety.

“I hate to say this, but we essentially repealed ObamaCare because we got rid of the individual mandate, which was terrible,” Trump said to applause. “And that was a primary source of funding of ObamaCare.”

Ryan also trumpeted the mandate repeal in a floor speech Wednesday.

“By repealing the individual mandate at the heart of ObamaCare, we are giving back the freedom and the flexibility to buy the health care that’s right for you and your family,” he said.

Yet other key elements of ObamaCare remain in place, including the law’s online insurance markets, the Medicaid expansion adopted by many states and a host of consumer protections. Indeed, experts have warned that the most tangible effect of the mandate repeal will be an across-the-board hike in insurance premiums as healthier people drop their coverage, creating enrollment pools of sicker, higher-cost patients.

The Democrats have warned that, in repealing the mandate, Republicans will assume ownership of any such premium hikes — a message reiterated by Pelosi on Thursday.

“This is a welcome debate that we have,” she said.

Tags Donald Trump Donald Trump Individual mandate Nancy Pelosi Nancy Pelosi Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Paul Ryan