President Barack Obama warns Republicans against swift repeal of his health care program, asking Americans to demand a replacement from Congress first.
“What exactly is this rush?” Obama asked during an interview with Vox.com.
Obama promised Republicans that if a replacement plan was actually better, he would support repeal of his signature legislation.
“I am saying to every Republican right now. If you in fact can put a plan together that is demonstrably better than what Obamacare is doing, I will publicly support repealing Obamacare and replacing it with your plan,” he said. “But I want to see it first.”
But Obama cautiously added that he would only support it if the Congressional Budget office or health care experts like Vox to evaluate a plan.
“We can designate some referees,” he said.
Obama admitted that health insurance premiums were going up, but argued that someone had to pay for it.
“We can’t get health care for free. You’re going to have to pay for it one way or another: either the government is going to pay more so that people don’t have as many out of pocket costs, and that means in some fashion higher taxes for somebody, or individuals are going to have to pay more out of pocket in one way or another,” he said.
Obama revealed that he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump about the law, urging him to get his advisors to come up with a better plan. He appeared doubtful that it would happen.
“So far, at least, that’s not what has happened,” Obama said.
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