President Donald Trump first aimed to “repeal and replace” Obamacare in his first administration, and that failed on the single vote of late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
That fight is once again coming to a head on the failure of Obamacare, according to Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
“I want to make sure we have a healthcare plan that works for the American people, and Obamacare has failed,” Barrasso, a medical doctor, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“We cannot continue to subsidize a failing plan which is causing more and more costs and hardship around the country.”
Obamacare has failed its test since its inception as former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation, according to Barrasso.
“I’m a doctor; I’ve practiced medicine in Wyoming for 24 years, and I’ve always wanted people to get the care they need from a doctor that they choose at a price they can afford,” he told host Kristen Welker.
“Obamacare basically destroyed that possibility. Remember, President Obama promised you could keep your doctor and you could keep your policy and insurance costs would go down by $2,500 a family.
“The exact opposite happened.
“Costs doubled. Insurance companies got very rich because the government kept sending money to national insurance companies to prop up the failures of Obamacare.
“The subsidies are up 80% of the cost of the insurance; even The New York Times and The Washington Post said Obamacare is pricey. It was never affordable.”
Barrasso noted Democrats had planned for the expiration of the COVID-era Obamacare subsidies that were set to expire at the end of the year, but they have managed to spin the narrative against Republicans and Trump as taking away something that was not guaranteed beyond 2025, as Democrats planned.
“So there have been all these subsidies, and a couple of years ago — this is what this is all about — Joe Biden and the Democrats said prices are going up even higher; we need to put new subsidies on top of the old subsidies during COVID,” Barrasso said. “These are the Biden COVID-bonus subsidies.
“Those are the ones the Democrats set to expire this year; that’s what the fight is about.”
It was merely applying a bandage to the failure of Obamacare, Barrasso continued.
“If the Democrats bring a bill that actually lowers the cost of care, that’s something I think people want to talk about, but I don’t expect that to happen,” he said.
“They just want to extend these subsidies, which is just putting another big Band-Aid on a gaping wound that needs major surgery.”
Americans are struggling under crippling costs of healthcare as the Democrat-forced system enriches the insurance companies.
“Not a single Republican voted for the Obama healthcare law,” Barrasso said. “We are going to have a meeting of the Finance Committee on Wednesday focusing on healthcare.
“I’m on that committee. A number of physicians are also on that committee.
“I think that we need to make sure people understand the costs and give them choice and give them control.
“What we’ve seen is health insurance companies stocks have gone up 500-1,000% since Obamacare became law. We can’t continue to subsidize this failure.”
The Republican design would restore choice to Americans and increase competition in a more capitalist than socialist structure for healthcare, Barrasso concluded.
“If people are given the money to make their own decisions and buy what works best for them and for their family, I think that the choice and the opportunities are much, much better,” he said.
“Now on this committee, of course, is Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and they want to do one size fits all, government-run healthcare that they have written right now, which is failing that country.
“I want to put people in charge of their decisions and not bureaucrats, which is what we’ve had with Obamacare.”
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