After the future of the Senate’s Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill collapsed into uncertainty Monday evening, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said he will support a Republican-led plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act once and for all.
On Tuesday, Rubio made an appearance on Facebook Live to talk about the future of the GOP’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
In the seven-minute address to voters, Rubio trashed the current state of health care and said something had to give if the country was going to make any progress on the health care front.
“The idea that somehow Obamacare is working well for people is absolutely wrong,” said Rubio.
“What about people on employer-sponsored health insurance?” asked Rubio. “Or what about the fact that Medicaid as it is currently structured is unsustainable in the long-term and is contributing to our debt? No one discusses that, either. We have an obligation to safety net, to provide health coverage to those the way that Medicaid was designed, for truly disadvantaged, but if we keep doing the way we are doing now, that program goes bankrupt along with Medicare and Social Security.”
Rubio has repeatedly said he would only support a health care plan with certain provisions included meeting the needs of Floridians.
Among Rubio’s demands: more Medicaid funding for Florida’s hospitals, which provide health care services for the state’s low-income patients and allowing the option for catastrophic coverage, a type of high-deductible ACA plan for people under 30 qualifying for a “hardship exemption.”
Rubio also said he wanted flexibility in Medicaid caps for public health emergencies like the Zika virus, which ravaged Florida in 2016.
When last Thursday rolled around and the bill was released, Rubio announced he would be supporting the measure, joining his fellow Republicans in their crusade to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which they believe is a deeply-flawed health care plan.
Negotiations over a proposal to get rid of Obamacare failed Monday evening, however, when two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas, announced they could not support the Senate bill.
Lee and Moran’s decision left the Senate two votes short necessary to dismantle the health care law.
Rubio has repeatedly criticized the ACA for penalizing states like Florida which refused to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
“Florida was punished under Obamacare for not expanding [Medicaid,]” he said.
GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell announced late Monday evening the Senate would take up a 2015 proposal to simply repeal Obamacare, but a full vote has not yet been scheduled. The plan appeared to be collapsing Tuesday as more senators -- Susan Collins, R-Maine, Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska -- all said they refused to support a simple repeal without a replacement plan.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
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