DSCC Chair Van Hollen: ‘Obamacare Is Not Hurting People’

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) argued that while Obamacare isn’t perfect, it isn’t hurting people.

Van Hollen responded to President Trump’s tweet that Obamacare is “hurting people,” by stating, “Obamacare is not hurting people. In fact, what would have really hurt people was if we had passed Trumpcare. And we know from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that that would have thrown tens of millions of Americans off of affordable care.”

He added that no one has said Obamacare is perfect and Democrats have said from the beginning that “we need to improve the exchanges. The first order of business is for the president to stop trying to sabotage the exchanges. There are a couple of things that are totally within the power of the Trump administration. Number one, the cost-sharing payments…those have been going on for a long time. he’s threatened to cut them off. That has created uncertainty and is — that’s why you have insurance companies threatening to increase premiums. Number two, enforce the individual mandate so you don’t just have sicker, more intense care patients in the exchanges. Three, make sure you advertise the fact that the exchanges are now open and people should enroll.”

Van Hollen continued that after those things are done, Congress can “work on a number of other things to both strengthen the exchanges in the short term, but also, we should work on things like reducing the cost of prescription drugs, and other things that we can do on a bipartisan basis.”

He also stated that President Trump’s statements about members of Congress and their health care are “flat out untrue. Members of Congress are in the exchanges like anybody else. Members of Congress are treated like every other federal employee that works for the United States government.”

He further said, “Why don’t we just focus on working together to improve the exchanges in the short term, and then, work on these bigger issues like reducing the costs of prescription drugs? I think within the exchanges, we should offer a public option in the exchanges. That would create more competition. It would drive down prices.”

(h/t Grabien)

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