Trump sets Obamacare ultimatum
US Prez reiterates many Americans forced to buy expensive insurance under Obamacare
President Donald Trump put his reputation as a dealmaker on the line Friday in a high-risk vote on an embattled Republican health care plan, with rebels in his own party threatening to torpedo the reform.
Mr Trump turned up the heat on diehard conservatives with the White House casting the vote in the House of Representatives as a do-or-die chance to repeal and replace Barack Obama’s signature heath care law.
Passage would hand Mr Trump a monumental victory after a bruising battle with recalcitrant Republicans, mainly conservatives who say the new plan is too similar to Obamacare and would cost the government too much.
Defeat could send the seven-year Republican effort to pull Mr Obama’s Affordable Care Act out by its roots and replace it with something better careening into a tailspin — and deal the President a major setback.
“After seven horrible years of Obamacare (skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare), this is finally your chance for a great plan!” Mr Trump tweeted in an 11th-hour message to Republicans in Congress.
The House took a first procedural step Friday, voting 230 to 194 to advance the bill — which has undergone changes to appease conservatives and moderates alike. A final floor vote is set for between 3:45 and 4:45 pm (1945 and 2045 GMT).
House speaker Paul Ryan, the reform’s chief champion in the House, had planned a Thursday vote but in a stunning development was forced to pull the bill off the floor when it became clear he would not get it across the finish line.
After several days of intense meetings at the White House, Mr Trump ran out of patience.
Donald Trump’s bid to repeal and replace the Obamacare health policy suffered a setback as his administration failed to garner enough support for it
Donald Trump’s bid to repeal and replace the Obamacare health policy has suffered a setback as his administration failed to garner enough support for it, prompting the US President to issue an ultimatum to his fellow Republicans.
The vote to repeal and replace Obamacare was initially scheduled for Thursday night.
However, in the absence of a majority, House Speaker Paul Ryan pushed the vote for Friday. But it could even happen on Monday.
The message was communicated through the White House budget director Mick Mulvaney.
Mr Mulvaney warned that if the legislation fails to pass through the Congress, Mr Trump would move ahead with his other priorities. “We have to have a vote. He expects it to pass, but he’s moving on if for some reason, it didn’t,” Congressman Chris Collins from New York told reporters.
In a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers, Mr Trump warned his partymen to leave Obamacare in place unless they pass the legislation to repeal and replace it, according to news reports.
“Disastrous #Obamacare has led to higher costs & fewer options. It will only continue to get worse! We must #Repeal-AND-Replace. #PassTheBill,” Mr Trump tweeted.
The White House said the people of the country were waiting for the political leadership to fulfil the promise made in the election
campaign. “The American people will be counting on to fulfil their promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare by supporting this bill,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.
He said the bill has truly been a collaborative effort from the beginning.
“Through an open and deliberative process, the President and his team have helped to negotiate a very, very strong bill,” he said.
In a meeting with truckers at the White House, Mr Trump said Obamacare had inflicted great pain on American truckers due to very high premium.
“Many of you were forced to buy health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. You experienced a crippling rise in premiums, and a dramatic loss in options. And you just take a look at what’s happened to the costs, and it’s incredible,” he said.
“You know the problems. And it’s put a lot of the trucking businesses out of business, which is pretty tough,” he added.