Clinton says ObamaCare is a ‘moral issue’

Hillary Clinton vowed to protect ObamaCare on Wednesday, one day before unveiling her own plan to make a mark on healthcare reform.

“It’s not just a political issue, it’s a moral issue,” the 2016 front-runner for the Democratic nomination said, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Underscoring the 16 million people who gained insurance under the law, Clinton vowed to prevent the GOP from rolling back its progress.

“I was so proud to be part of the Obama administration when he signed the Affordable Care Act,” she told the crowd of 1,200 people in Baton Rouge. “I’m not going to let them rip away the progress we’ve made.”

Just a short distance from the state Capitol, Clinton also delivered a direct attack against Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who is also running for president. She specifically attacked him for refusing to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare, which she said would have helped hundreds of thousands of people in his state gain health coverage.

Before her speech began, Jindal responded by publicly challenging Clinton to a debate on healthcare. 

“Instead of the carefully controlled campaign events that Secretary Clinton prefers, let’s give the American people a real live discussion,” Jindal wrote in a statement Monday morning.

Clinton’s remarks mirrored previous healthcare speeches given by President Obama, particularly this summer as he tried to convince Supreme Court justices to again uphold the law. “What we are talking about is no longer just a law. It’s no longer just a theory. This isn’t even about the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare,” he said in June.

Clinton’s remarks in Baton Rouge are the first leg of her three-state, two-day campaign trip on healthcare.  

She is expected to roll out new details of her plan during her final speech on Tuesday in Iowa. Her speech Monday in Louisiana, however, contained no new details.

She is likely to focus on the rising costs of prescription drugs and out-of-pocket healthcare costs — two issues that the Obama administration has long been criticized for leaving out of the Affordable Care Act.

Earlier Monday, Clinton promised to crack down on what she called “price gouging” by pharmaceutical companies, sending healthcare stocks into a nosedive on a day that saw good numbers for every other sector.