'No Obamacare:' Mike Johnson says Republicans will overhaul health care if Trump wins
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Mike Johnson told a crowd of supporters Monday night that there will be "no Obamacare" if former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans win the upcoming election on Nov. 5.
Republicans will propose “massive reform” to the Affordable Care Act if they win control of both chambers in Congress and the presidency, Johnson, R-La., said at a campaign event for Republican House candidate Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania on Monday evening.
“Health-care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda,” Johnson said about Republicans' plans. He added that the GOP wants to take a “blowtorch to the regulatory state,” with healthcare among the key sectors they plan to focus on.
An attendee then asked Johnson: “No Obamacare?” referring to the ACA. He laughed, rolled his eyes and replied, “No Obamacare.”
“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,” Johnson said, according to a video of the exchange first published by NBC News.
Republican leaders have floated repealing the ACA – a law that provides insurance coverage to millions of Americans and protects those with pre-existing conditions – since it was enacted by Democrats in Congress and President Barack Obama in 2010. Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to eliminate the law.
"We’ll be terminating Obamacare and we’ll be replacing it with so many different options, but you’ll have great health care at a fraction, a fraction of the cost," Trump said during one of his final campaign rallies that fall.
The Trump administration never proposed a replacement, however, and his repeal effort failed in Congress when three Republican senators broke ranks.
Trump has vowed in 2024 to improve upon the ACA but avoided proposing any specific policies. After his September debate against Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump was mocked by Democrats for saying he had “concepts of a plan” that would be soon revealed.
The health care law is widely popular. Around 45 million people are enrolled in ACA health plans, with a record number signing up in 2024, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that more than 60% of Americans held a favorable view of the law.
Harris has proposed expanding ACA enrollment if she’s elected, as well as extending Medicare coverage to include long-term home care for older adults and people with disabilities.
Her campaign responded to Johnson’s comments by saying that “health care is on the ballot” in 2024.
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“Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear — if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no Obamacare,’” said campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika in a statement. “That means higher health-care costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer.”
Johnson rejected those claims.
“The audio and transcript make clear that I offered no such promise to end Obamacare,” the speaker said in a statement, adding that House Republicans will “always seek to reduce the costs and improve the quality and availability of health care for all Americans.”
When reached for comment, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt argued that repealing the ACA was not the Republican presidential nominee’s “policy position.” She said Trump planned to improve the health care system by “increasing transparency, promoting choice and competition, and expanding access to new affordable health care and insurance options.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Johnson says Obamacare in for 'massive reform' if Trump wins