Several Republicans weren’t too concerned that President Trump did not say during the State of the Union that he wanted to get rid of the rest of Obamacare.
Trump touted the repeal of the health law’s individual mandate in tax reform during his first State of the Union Tuesday. Some Republicans weren’t surprised that Trump did not make a renewed push to get rid of the rest of Obamacare after Congress failed to do so last year.
“Obviously when you’ve had two failures you don’t want to necessarily go and use that on the State of the Union, but there is real work going on behind the scenes on healthcare,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Meadows did not detail the behind-the-scenes work. However, the Trump administration is making administrative moves to broaden access to cheaper plans that offer skimpy coverage.
The House passed an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill in May. However, a Senate version failed in late July and a bid to try again in September also came short.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently told the Washington Examiner that the party had to “finish the job” on Obamacare this year. However, Cruz was not concerned that Trump did not make the same call in his major speech.
“The speech tonight was strong. It was focused on jobs and economic growth,” Cruz said.
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., also pointed to the repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate that everyone get health insurance.
He said that the mandate largely impacted people who made under $50,000. Gardner also referenced Trump’s promise to lower prescription drug prices.
“The president knows that we have to decrease the cost of healthcare and increase the quality of care,” Gardner said. “When he talked about decreasing the cost of prescription drugs that is just one way to do it.”
