Don Young: Canceling the health care vote was a ‘victory for Alaska’
House Republican leadership pulled the American Health Care Act, the House "repeal and replace" legislation, from the floor Friday without taking a vote, acknowledging that they did not have enough votes to pass it.
"My job is to represent those people in that state, and I think we did this this week," Young said. "I work with (House Speaker
Young is not part of the
Up next: "a pause," Young said.
The answer, Young said, will be in a bipartisan approach.
"You know the reason Obamacare failed? It wasn't a bipartisan bill. I'll never forgive (former Democratic House Speaker)
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"When we write this bill, why don't we address the issue of high cost of drugs? Why don't we address the issue of accessibility? Why don't we address the issue of over-federalization?" Young asked of the Republican bill that died Friday. "We have to look at these things, and accessibility, good doctors, reasonable costs. And I think it can be done," Young said.
"And nothing in this new bill addressed the real problems of health care," Young said.
"I know what they were trying to do and it was the wrong thing to do -- they were trying to pass it on the same day that Obamacare passed (seven years ago). But ... they actually were doing the same thing when Obamacare passed than what we objected to. That's the sad part about it," Young said.
What's next?
Young said he would like to see a multistep process: First, a simple repeal of the ACA, passed soon, to be enacted in 2020. Then, he'd like to see a commission in the House that would work with the relevant committees, gather smart minds, and come up with a bill.
The pressure of upending the ACA entirely would bring both
Young said he has interest in allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines, but cautioned that that may not be an easy fix for high-cost
[Murkowski still doesn't like much about House health bill; Speaker Ryan begs for Young's vote]
He said he'd also like to see more options for groups of people in a shared industry to pool together to get a better deal on health insurance.
And he'd like to see better control over drug costs and the high prices for services that insurance companies charge.
Young was not swayed by President
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