Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) denounced President Trump on Monday for reviving plans to repeal and replace ObamaCare, saying Democrats would “fight relentlessly” against it.
“The American people already know exactly what the President’s health care plans mean in their lives: higher costs, worse coverage and the end of lifesaving protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” Pelosi said in a statement.
{mosads}She was responding to Trump’s comments in an interview with ABC that aired Sunday night, where he said “we’ll be announcing that in about two months, maybe less,” when asked about his ObamaCare replacement plan.
Democrats are eager to highlight Trump’s attacks on ObamaCare, given that protecting the health care law and its guarantees for people with pre-existing conditions was a central theme of Democrats’ successful campaign last year to win back the House.
Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, have been pressing Trump to abandon talk of repealing ObamaCare and instead focus on less incendiary issues such as reducing prescription drug prices.
Pelosi pointed out that Trump is supporting a lawsuit currently making its way through the courts seeking to overturn all of the Affordable Care Act.
“President Trump has waged an assault on health care since the start, and continues to order the Justice Department to ask the courts to destroy protections for people with pre-existing conditions and strike down every other protection and guarantee of affordable health care for America’s families,” she said.
House Democrats held events on improving ObamaCare and lowering drug prices across the country over the weekend, and Pelosi said Democrats “will continue to fight relentlessly to protect and strengthen hard-working families’ affordable health care.”
Trump has long promised a plan for “great” health care, but his administration has not yet produced one, instead deferring to congressional Republicans’ replacement plans during the repeal push in 2017.
The Trump administration has also recently been emphasizing other health care priorities, including lowering drug prices and protecting patients from getting “surprise” medical bills in the emergency room.