"And we already have the concept of the plan, but it'll be less expensive than Obamacare by a lot. And it'll be much better health care," Mr. Trump said, adding that "we'll be announcing that in about two months."
"Obamacare has been a disaster," the President said, again bemoaning the last second change by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which defeated a bare bones effort to pass any kind of GOP health care plan in the U.S. Senate in July of 2017.
President Trump is once again putting a spotlight on health care, but White House officials tell @ABC there is no new legislation in the works.
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 17, 2019
Instead the administration is moving forward on a set of principles, @karentravers reports https://t.co/PBjswvTDkg pic.twitter.com/L8WG7PIR7b
The sudden talk about unveiling a new plan caught Capitol Hill Republicans by surprise - just as the President had surprised the GOP by saying earlier this year that he wanted the GOP to act on health care reform.
"The Republican Party will become the party of Health Care," Mr. Trump tweeted back in March.
But after a few days, the President backed off, and said he would not try to press for major changes in the Obama health law until after the 2020 elections - and only if Republicans take back control of both houses of Congress.
"It will be truly great HealthCare that will work for America," the President tweeted back in early April.
At the time, there seemed to be little appetite on Capitol Hill for tackling the issue again, as the GOP is all for doing something different on health care - but does not have an agreement on what that 'something' should be, in terms of the fine print.
Democrats were skeptical that anything has changed.
Trump and Republicans do not have a health care plan. They will not have one in a month. And by the way, they are supporting a lawsuit that would overturn the entire ACA and gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions overnight. https://t.co/S5OFMW9zXf
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 17, 2019
"Someone tell the President that ripping health care away from 20 million Americans isn’t called a “plan,” it’s called a catastrophe," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
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