McConnell to Dems: Work with us to repeal and replace Obamacare

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is calling upon Democrats to work with Republicans in their repeal of the Affordable Care Act, specifically by confirming President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

“Some Democratic Senators have mused publicly about their role in that process. I hope they’ll work with us,” McConnell wrote in an op-ed for Fox News. “We want their ideas to improve our health care system. We want to find ways to work together on this important issue.”

“There may have been 2,700 pages in the Obamacare bill, but there are tens of thousands of pages of Obamacare-related regulations, which is why nominees like Tom Price and Seema Verma can get to work bringing relief and stabilizing the health-care market,” he added. Price is Trump’s selection for HHS secretary, while Verma was tapped for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator.

{mosads}McConnell echoed last week’s GOP address, which said “there will be a stable transition period” as Republicans work to repeal ObamaCare and come up with a replacement. 

“There will be a stable transition period, and once repeal is passed we will turn to replacement policies that cost less and work better than what we have now,” McConnell wrote.

Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), have recently criticized Republicans for wanting to repeal the healthcare law without proposing an alternative. Republicans have not put forward a specific timeline, though last month Politico reported Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) as saying the transition period could be three years.

“We plan to take on this challenge in manageable pieces, not another 2,700-page bill like ObamaCare,” McConnell said.