Booker: Republicans can’t force new healthcare plan ‘down our throats’

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said on Sunday Republicans cannot force their new healthcare plan down the throats of Democrats, echoing rhetoric Republicans used when Democrats first passed ObamaCare in 2009. 

“Republicans cannot just force this down our throats,” Booker told CNN’s “State of the Union” during a pre-recorded interview at the South by Southwest festival.

The House GOP last week unveiled two measures to repeal and replace former President Obama’s signature healthcare legislation. The new legislation would dismantle ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion and eliminate the individual mandate, which required individuals to purchase health insurance or pay a fine to the government.

{mosads}The measures would keep some components of ObamaCare in place, including the protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions. It would also create a tax credit system to incentivize individuals to purchase coverage.

Booker added that the bill proposed by House Republicans is “bad policy” and “bad politics.”