Exclusive–Jeff Landry: Republicans Need to ‘Step Up’ and Fix Health Care

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told Breitbart News Tonight on Tuesday that Republicans need to step up and fix health care.

Landry spoke to Breitbart News Tonight hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak regarding his new healthcare bill, the Health Care Coverage for Louisiana Families Protection Act, which would allow the state insurance commission to open the health insurance market to anyone not covered by an employer-sponsored health insurance plan. Companies could then compete on the state exchange to offer health insurance.

Landry said that because Republicans had not acted during the early 2000s on health care, Democrats seized the opportunity and passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Landry said that Republicans have done a “poor job of listening. And what happens in the absence of leadership? There becomes a vacuum and Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama who entered in with socialized health care.”

Landry’s health insurance legislation would also protect Americans with preexisting conditions through a “guaranteed benefits pool,” which would protect Americans in a more light-touch fashion compared to many of the onerous Obamacare regulations which raise health insurance premiums and deductibles.

Democrats have called for expanding Obamacare, creating a government “public option,” as well as passing Medicare for All, a single-payer, government-run healthcare system.

The Louisiana attorney general said that “Republicans need to finally step up and fill a void and fix the problem.”

Landry previously told Breitbart News that his legislation could serve as the “path forward” on health care as President Donald Trump wants to make the Republican Party the party of health care.

Landry’s legislation passed with veto-proof majorities through state chambers of the Louisiana legislature, putting significant pressure on Democrat Gov. Jon Bel Edwards to sign the bill. The Louisiana Republican also said that if Edwards were to veto the bill, it could serve as a “boost” to Louisiana Republican gubernatorial candidates such as Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-LA) and businessman Eddie Rispone.

Landry also said that he does not see a way for the fifth federal circuit court and ultimately the Supreme Court to not rule that the ACA violates that Constitution and should be struck down entirely, although Landry cautioned that the Supreme Court could rule some portions of the ACA unconstitutional while saving other parts of Barack Obama’s healthcare law.

“This is an opportunity for us to lead and to actually fix” health care, Landry said.

Landry said that Republican states can work with Trump on health care using a federalist model and that they can “drag Congress along with it because we know that’s a dysfunctional body anyhow. I knew because I was part of it.”

Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot channel 125 weeknights from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern or 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific.