Sens. Cassidy, Graham Issue Joint Statement on White House Meeting

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- The office of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., issued the following joint statement:

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U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) today issued this statement on their meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss a host of issues including Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson (GCHJ) and tax reform.

"We greatly appreciate President Trump taking time to discuss the many problems facing Obamacare and how we can replace it with state-tailored health care reform that lowers costs and improves coverage for millions of Americans.

"President Trump remains committed to repealing and replacing Obamacare. He also strongly supports the principles brought forward in Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson.

"While President Trump - and both of us - are moving to focus on tax cuts, the debate about health care reform will continue.

"Over the coming weeks and months, we are committed to holding congressional hearings and working with our nations' governors who believe returning power to states is a vast improvement over Obamacare.

"We are also very appreciative that the President has fully committed his Administration to continue working with us so we can pass GCHJ. With the President and Vice President's continued leadership and involvement, we believe it is just a matter of time until Obamacare is replaced by a state-centric system closer to patients and more focused on positive health care outcomes.

"In our meeting, President Trump also made clear he is willing to work with Democrats to see if we can find bipartisan, common ground and we strongly encouraged the President to do so. But like us, he shares concerns about simply throwing good money after bad in propping up a structurally unsound Obamacare system which will eventually collapse.

"It's time we adopt solutions to America's health care problems that are sustainable and will produce better outcomes than Obamacare. We remain convinced that our state-centric approach is the best way forward and will deliver the best results to the American people."