HHS secretary: Trump committed to insurance for everyone

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Sunday reaffirmed President Trump’s goal to provide healthcare insurance for all Americans.

“The president is committed to that as am I and those of us at the Department of Health and Human Services,” Price told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Price repeatedly stressed that the Republicans’ healthcare proposal is in the first of three phases.

“So the plan in its entirety is the one that the president has assured the American people every single American will have access to affordable coverage that works for them, not for government, and that’s what we have in mind,” Price told Tapper.

{mosads}“The fact of the matter is, this bill moving through Congress right now is simply the first step in this process. The three steps include not just this bill, but the administrative changes that we’re able to put in place at the Department of Health and Human Services,” Price added.

Price said the administration plans to test and then keep the bill provisions that benefit patients and drive down insurance costs.

“We’re going to look at every one of them and make certain that we have those in place that actually help patients and drive down costs, and if they hurt patients and drive up costs, we’re going to do away with them,” Price added.

Price, when pressed whether the bill in its third phase will provide every American with universal coverage, said everyone “will have access to the kind of coverage that they want.”

Price’s comments come after a Congressional Budget Office report that found that the GOP bill would leave 24 million fewer Americans without health insurance coverage sparked criticism.

Trump, who supports the Republican bill, promised on the campaign trail to provide health insurance coverage for everyone.

“I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not … The government is going to pay for it, but we are going to save so much on the other side,” Trump told CBS in late September.