Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said remarks by former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who said the repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate would drive up insurance costs, show the Republican Party is responsible for problems associated with the healthcare law.
“Former Secretary Price’s comments and the new Commonwealth Fund study continue to remove any doubt that Republicans and the Trump administration own any and all increases in healthcare premiums for American consumers,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Tuesday.
The Commonwealth Fund announced the results of a tracking survey that found Obamacare gains in coverage “are beginning to reverse.”
The organization said the reasons “likely” stem primarily from “lack of federal legislative actions to improve specific weaknesses” in the law, which for years has led to higher insurance policy costs and a sharp reduction in coverage offerings thanks to a pool of sicker participants and not enough healthy enrollees.
The Commonwealth Fund also blamed “actions by the current administration that have exacerbated those weaknesses,” such as a shorter enrollment period, which critics had said was allowing people to jump on and off insurance when they needed it.
Price, the former HHS Secretary and a physician, was fired by President Trump because of high, questionable travel costs.
Price told the World Health Care Congress the tax law repeal of the Obamacare mandate to purchase health insurance would drive up costs because it did not come with a replacement for the healthcare law.
Price also told the organization he does not believe Congress will make another attempt to repeal the entire law and replace it until after the November midterm elections.
Democrats have been eager to shift the blame for the problems associated with the healthcare law to the GOP, which has been unable to come up with the votes in their own party to repeal and replace it.
“The American people know the Trump administration is responsible for the repeated sabotage of the healthcare system and that Republicans in Congress prioritized destroying our current system rather than improving it, which could lead to higher costs and fewer options for quality care,” Schumer said.
