The newly-minted chair of the House Appropriations Committee said Monday that both House and Senate leadership, as well as the incoming Trump administration, had made a “promise” to have a replacement ready for Obamacare as soon as it is repealed.
“That’s the promise of both the House and Senate leadership, as well as the incoming administration,” Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) told MorristownGreen.com, responding to questions about maintaining coverage for those who received it under the Affordable Care Act.
A videographer from the publication asked Frelinghuysen earlier in the interview whether the 20 million people who had gained access to health care through the ACA would continue to have coverage after the law’s repeal, which Republicans initiated last week.
“I think they’re going to have it, and I think it’s probably going to be better care than what they have now,” Frelinghuysen said.
“We need to obviously cover issues which relate to pre-existing conditions,” he added. “And about between five and 10 percent of those that make up most of the cost of medical care are in that category. So I think much of what we will be focusing on is how do we take care of those with pre-existing conditions.”
A local advocacy group had let Frelinghuysen know what they thought of his “plan” the previous Friday, when they delivered paper bags with lumps of coal to his office.
NJ 11th For Change brought around 30 of the bags to Frelinghuysen’s office Friday, according to MorristownGreen.com and the Mount Olive Chronicle.
The latter publication said the group hoped to visit Frelinghuysen’s office every Friday.
Watch MorristownGreen.com’s interview with Frelinghuysen below. His “promise” to have a replacement for Obamacare ready when it is repealed comes at the three minute mark:
