Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price argued Wednesday night that his agency can accomplish for health coverage what Congress cannot.
Price said HHS will continue working toward improving Americans’ access to health coverage, through reviewing rules issued under Obamacare and overturning those that “hurt patients.”
“All those rules, thousands of guidance letters—all of those were done through HHS and we’re going to look through each and every one of those to see whether they help or hurt patients,” Price said at a CNN forum on healthcare.
Price had been asked how Republicans will improve access, since the Congressional Budget Office has said their plan would roll back coverage gains under the Affordable Care Act. House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted Wednesday that the measure will have to be revised amid pushback from both ends of his party.
Price and other Republican leaders have said the plan is just the first part of a three-step plan to improve healthcare in the U.S. The second step is for the administration to make rule changes, while the third part is to pass additional legislation like medical malpractice reform, they say.
But they’re finding themselves on the defensive over a Congressional Budget Office score which said the GOP plan would result in 24 million more Americans without coverage over the next decade, partly because plans would become too expensive for some to afford without generous enough subsidies.
Asked about that analysis Wednesday night, Price said the goal is to ensure everyone can eventually afford a plan.
“Our plan, we believe, will make it so every single American is able to financially afford and have access to the kind of coverage they want,” Price said.
