Leader McCarthy on the Air: If You Want to See Obamacare Replaced, This Is It

WASHINGTON, March 9 -- House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., issued the following news release:

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) spoke this morning on Fox News' Fox & Friends, CBS This Morning, and the Hugh Hewitt show about Republican's three-phase plan to repeal and replace Obamacare and why the President is on board with the House's legislation.

"If you want to see Obamacare replaced, this is the best opportunity to do it."

Fox and Friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GG07SMvfEZg

On the three phases to repeal and replace Obamacare:

"This is phase one of the process. Because of the senate rules, and because we have to go through what is called reconciliation through a budget process, we cannot put everything in this bill when it comes to replacement. The second phase as you are seeing with Dr. Tom Price--a lot of power in the ACA was given to the [HHS] secretary. There's 1,400 points within that bill that allows the power of the secretary. He will be taking his role. And then the third phase--which some of that will even start as we're moving this [reconciliation bill]--those bills that take 60 votes, like getting insurance across state lines, tort reform, and others."

On why President Trump supports this plan:

"The President supports this plan, is working for this plan. I think everybody should get on board. This is one of three phases. If you want to see Obamacare replaced, this is the best opportunity to do it. If you want to see replacement that lowers the premiums and actually gives greater quality of care, this is the only option we have going forward. If you think you can repeal Obamacare alone and think you're going to find 60 votes in the Senate, that will blame be on us for failure of Obamacare. I think that is the wrong way to go. We want to solve this problem, and this is the best option. That is why you will find that this will move through the House and get to the Senate. And those who read it and see one of three phases will understand why the President backs this plan and believes it is the best move forward."

On how Obamacare is failing:

"We've been working so many times to make this go forward. Remember, why are we here today? Obamacare did essentially three things: It took control of health care to the federal government, it was exchanges, and expansion of Medicaid. If you look at exchanges today, one-third of all the counties in America, there's 3,000 counties roughly--1,022 have only one provider. Some now will have no providers at all. They created 23 co-ops in Obamacare. Gave them $2 billion. In that short amount of time, 18 of those have failed. And then now Medicaid, the expansion of Medicaid is going to cost us $1 trillion dollars in the 10th year. That is equivalent to all the money we spend in discretionary spending in government today. It's unsustainable."

CBS This Morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9qST-gVZyUY

On the conservative foundations of tax credits:

"President Trump supports this bill because he understands that it lowers the price. What's more important, tax credits is a conservative idea. If look back to what Heritage said in 2007, tax credits is the way to provide greater health care in the process. So I believe when people sit and read this bill and understand that this is phase one in a process, you will find much more support as we go through."

On how the House is following regular order to repeal and replace Obamacare:

"We're going through regular order--as you watch through committee, through Energy and Commerce, through Ways and Means--then it will go to Budget, then come to the floor. This is the way legislation is produced in America. This is the way that, one, we can actually keep the promise to lower the price of health care."

The Hugh Hewitt Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xuZzBZlEVN4

On President Trump's involvement in American Health Care Act:

"The president is very engaged.... The president understands this plan very well, and he supports it.... We want to lower the cost of health care, actually replace Obamacare, cap an entitlement--the biggest entitlement reform we have ever found. This is the mechanism to do it in the first phase of three phases."

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