USA TODAY International Edition
Trump's latest health care strategy: Let Obamacare fail
Congressional opposition collapses plan
The morning after Republican efforts to overhaul health care collapsed on Capitol Hill, President Trump said Tuesday he now wants to wait until the problems of the current law force a demand for change.
"As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!" Trump tweeted.
Trump has not "always" endorsed such a strategy and has instead backed a variety of ways to address the health care issue.
Just before he took office, Trump said in January he was nearing completion of a plan to replace Obamacare with the goal of "insurance for everybody" and backed a variety of "repeal and replace" proposals in recent months. And as late as Monday night, Trump endorsed a simple repeal of the law President Obama signed in 2010.
Trump's call for a straight repeal of the Affordable Care Act came after Republican senators Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas said they would oppose a Trump- backed plan to repeal and replace the law, leaving the party well short of majority support. Shortly after, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday announced he was pulling the plan.
The decision appeared to take the White House by surprise. As McConnell made his announcement, Trump was wrapping up a dinner at the White House with a group of Republican senators to discuss health care strategy.
During his morning tweetstorm, Trump generally blamed the other party: "We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republi- cans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!"
Democrats and estimates from the Congressional Budget Office said alternative Republicans plans would have cut off millions from health insurance because of higher costs. They also said the GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare essentially sabotaged the legislation by creating uncertainty among insurers.
Some Republicans said Trump himself sent mixed messages. He backed a House health care plan over intense opposition in March, and even staged a high- profile celebration of its passage in the White House Rose Garden. Weeks later, however, Trump described the House bill as "too mean" in a meeting with Senate Republicans.
Trump also, at times, suggested letting the existing law stay in place, predicting it would "collapse" and generate demand for change — a tactic he readopted late Monday night.
"Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!" he said.
The collapse of health care puts Trump's entire legislative agenda at risk. Trump and aides have repeatedly said that their hopes for tax reform hinged on a new health care law because it included changes to the tax code.