Mike Johnson Reveals One of GOP’s First Targets if They Win Congress
Only one week from Election Day, Republicans’ closing message is that they plan to take away people’s health care, specifically the Affordable Care Act, if the party retains control of the House.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told the crowd at a rally in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Monday that “health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda.”
“When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” Johnson said at the rally meant to be in support of Republican Representative Ryan Mackenzie.
One person at the rally, in a reference to the health care bill passed by Democrats under President Obama, asked Johnson, “No Obamacare?”
“No Obamacare,” Johnson replied, rolling his eyes according to NBC News. “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”
“If you take government bureaucrats out of the health care equation and you have doctor-patient relationships, it’s better for everybody. More efficient, more effective,” Johnson added. “That’s the free market. Trump’s going to be for the free market.”
Johnson later promised to take a “blowtorch to the regulatory state.”
Johnson’s promise to ax Obamacare isn’t an offhand remark. Earlier this month, Senator Tom Cotton also promised that if Donald Trump wins the election and the GOP takes control of the Senate, Republicans could “make health care more affordable, more tailored and more personalized than the one-size-fits-all option.”
During his four years as president, Trump tried and failed to repeal the ACA, even though the GOP controlled the House and the Senate for two years. During his presidential debate with Kamala Harris last month, Trump reiterated his desire to get rid of the health care law, but when pressed, said he only had “concepts of a plan.”
Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, has elaborated on the Trump administration’s current plan, which is to undo much of the ACA’s framework, including its prohibition on health insurance companies’ ability to charge more for preexisting conditions. Johnson’s and Cotton’s comments reveal that he has allies among the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill. The question is whether voters want to elect Trump and allow the GOP to reverse the health care reforms of the previous decade.