Speaker Ryan on ‘Fox & Friends’: AHCA Is a ‘Better System’ than Obamacare

WASHINGTON, May 9 -- House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., issued the following information:

This morning, Speaker Ryan joined Fox & Friends to discuss one of the biggest priorities on the 2017 legislative agenda: repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Obamacare failed.

"I think what's happening is the left is seeing their vision of government-run health care evaporate before their eyes, and it's really disturbing to them. But here's the problem: This law is collapsing. This law is failing fast. And so what we're doing is a rescue operation, which is getting rid of this law, which is collapsing. Iowa last week? The last insurer said, 'We're pulling out.' That means in 94 of 99 counties in the state of Iowa, no health insurance choices. Five states are down to one insurer left. Maryland just announced a 58 percent premium increase for next year. Aetna just pulled out of Virginia. This law is collapsing, and people aren't getting any care, let alone affordable care."

That's why AHCA is critical.

"We have a better system. What our plan does is it is aimed at getting premiums down, letting people have a plan that they want, that's more affordable, and yes, our plan has layers of protections for people with pre-existing conditions. We think there's a much better way to do this so that people can get lower premiums and people with pre-existing conditions can also get access to affordable coverage. That's what our plan achieves."

More choices, better care.

"What our plan does is give people more choices. Give them a tax credit so they can go buy a plan that they want. And what we also learned is in many states . . . they had really good systems in their states that guaranteed people with pre-existing conditions got really affordable health care. And what we're basically saying is, 'Let's have state and federal assistance for people with catastrophic illnesses. Directly subsidize their expensive care so that they get affordable care, but that means everybody else doesn't have to pay for that so you can lower premiums for all other people in America.' That's what we're trying to achieve here."