Republicans should not repeal the Affordable Care Act without first setting up a new plan to replace it, one that includes President-elect Donald Trump's vow to provide insurance to all Americans, says Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
"I've been critical of repealing Obamacare without having a plan as to how we're going forward that can be concomitantly implemented," Cassidy said during an interview with NBC News, correcting the interviewer's claim that the senator has criticized the idea of repealing Obamacare without a replacement plan.
"As we repeal, we set the stage for replace," he added.
"The full repeal won't occur at once. If step by step we do one and then the other, we're both fulfilling the promise to the American people, having that sense of urgency they want to see, but with interaction from stakeholders putting together something that works for people."
Trump told The Washington Post over the weekend that he's close to completing a replacement plan that would include "insurance for everybody." When asked if Trump was "over-promising," Cassidy said that his "Patient Freedom Act" provides both complete coverage and lower deductibles.
"We spoke to an insurance group recently and they said our model — everyone enrolled unless they chose not to be — could, in and of itself, lower premiums by 20 percent, because you now have the law of big numbers. It's not just the sick and old signing up ... you get everyone in. So that's a 20 percent reduction right there, but you've done it by expanding coverage. I would argue the way you achieve one promise is by fulfilling both."
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