WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vice President Mike Pence took to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers on the heels of the release of Republican House Leaders’ plan to replace Obamacare.
Pence was scheduled for a Senate Republican Policy lunch, after which he was to hold “a series of meetings with lawmakers.
Mid-afternoon the White House released a readout of the Vice President’s meeting with U.S. House Representatives Marks Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH):
The Vice President today met with conservative leaders in the House to discuss the failures of Obamacare and the need to repeal and replace that disastrous law. Participants discussed their shared desire for fiscally responsible, market-based reforms that encourage competition and provide individuals and families with the ability to choose the health insurance option that is best for them. The Vice President stressed this is the first step in the process to deliver on the President’s promise to the American people and looks forward to House passage of the American Health Care Act.
Shortly after the meeting, members of the House Freedom Caucus, including Meadows and Jordan, held a press conference on Capitol Hill, during which they addressed repeal and replacement of Obamacare.
Rep. Meadows recalled for reporters that he campaigned alongside then-candidate Donald Trump during the presidential election. He said that talk of repeal meant to many that the entire bill would be repealed. Both Meadows and Jordan spoke of getting rid of Obamacare completely and bringing down healthcare costs for Americans.
Jordan told reporters:
Tomorrow I will introduce the bill that every single Republican voted on just 15 months ago, the bill that actually repeals Obamacare. Our plan has always been repeal in one piece of legislation, replace in the other and that replacement we talked about a few weeks ago is the bill sponsored by [Rep.] Dr. [Rand] Paul in the Senate and [Rep.] Mark Sanford in the House.
He went on to summarize and differentiate three different replacement plans. The first he named was the Cassidy-Collins plan, which he defined as essentially the plan to keep Obamacare. The second Jordan named was the House Leadership plan, “which I believe when you look through it, is Obamacare in a different form.” The third he named as “our plan,” as he spoke alongside members of the House Freedom Caucus. He said of this third plan that it is “the one that I think is consistent with what we told the voters we were gonna do. Repeal Obamacare, replace it with a market-centered, patient-centered, doctor-centered plan that actually brings down the cost of insurance, brings down the cost of healthcare.”
Member after member denounced the House Leadership plan to replace Obamacare as unacceptable based on what they promised to the American people. Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Rep. Mark Sanford, Rep. Dave Brat, and Sen. Rand Paul were among those who also spoke at the Tuesday afternoon House Freedom Caucus press conference.
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