President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted that Senate Republicans “will not let the American people down” after House Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare.
“Republican Senators will not let the American people down!” Trump tweeted.
He also claimed that Obamacare “was a lie and it is dead.”
Republican Senators will not let the American people down! ObamaCare premiums and deductibles are way up – it was a lie and it is dead!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2017
Republicans have often defended their repeal efforts by claiming that Obamacare is collapsing on its own, but the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found in March that “the nongroup market would probably be stable in most areas” if Obamacare remains in place.
Trump’s administration has also taken steps counter to the law’s effectiveness. In January, the Department of Health and Human Services pulled ads promoting enrollment just a few days before the open sign-up period ended for 2017 health insurance plans on the Obamacare exchanges.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price refused in March to commit to enforcing Obamacare’s individual mandate, which enforces a tax penalty on eligible Americans who do not buy health insurance. If Trump’s administration refused to enforce that mandate, it could create the “crisis” Republican lawmakers claim is already taking place.
