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Remarks by President Trump on the Health Care Bill

Friday, March 24, 2017 15:09
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(Before It's News)

Oval Office

4:26 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  We were very close, and it was a very, very tight margin.  We had no Democrat support.  We had no votes from the Democrats.  They weren’t going to give us a single vote, so it’s a very difficult thing to do. 

I’ve been saying for the last year and a half that the best thing we can do politically speaking is let Obamacare explode.  It is exploding right now.  Many states have big problems — almost all states have big problems.  I was in Tennessee the other day, and they’ve lost half of their state in terms of an insurer; they have no insurer.  And that’s happened to many other places.  I was in Kentucky the other day, and similar things are happening.

So Obamacare is exploding.  With no Democrat support, we couldn’t quite get there.  We were just a very small number of votes short in terms of getting our bill passed.  A lot of people don’t realize how good our bill was because they were viewing phase one.  But when you add phase two — which was mostly the signings of Secretary Price, who’s behind me — and you add phase three, which I think we would have gotten — it became a great bill.  Premiums would have gone down and it would have been very stable, it would have been very strong.  But that’s okay.  

But we’re very, very close.  And again, I think what will happen is Obamacare, unfortunately, will explode.  It’s going to have a very bad year.  Last year you had over a 100 percent increases in various places.  In Arizona, I understand it’s going up very rapidly again, like it did last year; last year it was 116 percent.  Many places, 50, 60, 70 percent, I guess it averaged — whatever the average was — very, very high.   And this year should be much worse for Obamacare.

So what would be really good, with no Democrat support, is if the Democrats, when it explodes — which it will soon — if they got together with us and got a real healthcare bill.  I would be totally up to do it.  And I think that’s going to happen.  I think the losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, because now they own Obamacare.  They own it — 100 percent own it.  

And this is not a Republican healthcare, this is not anything but a Democrat healthcare.  And they have Obamacare for a little while longer, until it ceases to exist, which it will at some point in the near future.  And just remember this is not our bill, this is their bill.

Now, when they all become civilized and get together, and try and work out a great healthcare bill for the people of this country, we’re open to it.  We’re totally open to it.  

I want to thank the Republican Party.  I want to thank Paul Ryan — he worked very, very hard, I will tell you that.  He worked very, very hard.  Tom Price and Mike Pence — who’s right here — our Vice President, our great Vice President.  Everybody worked hard.  I worked as a team player and would have loved to have seen it passed.  But again, I think you know I was very clear, I think there wasn’t a speech I made, or very few where I didn’t mention that perhaps the best thing that can happen is exactly what happened today, because we’ll end up with a truly great healthcare bill in the future, after this mess known as Obamacare explodes.

So I want to thank everybody for being here.  It will go very smoothly, I really believe.  I think this is something — it certainly was an interesting period of time.  We all learned a lot.  We learned a lot about loyalty.  We learned a lot about the vote-getting process.  We learned a lot about some very arcane rules in, obviously, both the Senate and in the House.  So it’s been — certainly for me, it’s been a very interesting experience.  But in the end, I think it’s going to be an experience that leads to an even better healthcare plan.  

So thank you all very much.  And I’ll see you soon.

Q    Mr. President, is it now your intention to go for tax reform?  Or what’s next on your priority list?

THE PRESIDENT:  We’ll be going right now for tax reform, which we could have done earlier, but this really would have worked out better if we could have had some Democrat support.  Remember this:  We had no Democrat support.  So now we’re going to go for tax reform, which I’ve always liked.

Q    And you’re confident in Speaker Ryan’s leadership and his ability to get things done?

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, I am.  I like Speaker Ryan.  He worked very, very hard.  A lot of different groups, he’s got a lot of factions.  And there’s been a long history of liking and disliking, even within the Republican Party, long before I got here.  But I’ve had a great relationship with the Republican Party.  It seems that both sides like Trump, and that’s good.  And you see that, I guess, more clearly than anybody.

But we’ve had a — I’m not going to speak badly about anybody within the party.  But certainly there’s a big history.  I think Paul really worked hard.  And I would say that we will probably start going very, very strong for the big tax cuts and tax reform.  That will be next.

Q    Sir, is it fair to Americans to let Obamacare explode?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, it’s going to happen.  There’s not much you can do about it.  It’s going to — bad things are going to happen to Obamacare.  There’s not much you can do to help it.  I’ve been saying that for a year and a half.  I said, look, eventually it’s not sustainable.  The insurance companies are leaving — you know that.  They’re leaving one by one, as quick as you can leave.  And you have states, in some cases, who will not be covered.  So there’s no way out of that.

But the one thing that was happening, as we got closer and closer, everybody was talking about how wonderful it was, and now we’ll go back to real life and people will see how bad it is.  And it’s getting much worse.  

You know, I said the other day, when President Obama left — ’17, he knew he wasn’t going to be here; ’17 is going to be a very, very bad year for Obamacare.  Very, very bad.  You’re going to have explosive premium increases.  And the deductibles are so high people don’t even get to use it.

So they’ll go with that for a little while.  And I honestly believe — I know some of the Democrats, and they’re good people — I honestly believe the Democrats will come to us and say, look, let’s get together and get a great healthcare bill or plan that’s really great for the people of our country.  And I think that’s going to happen.

Q    If you could have passed the bill in the House without any Democratic support, why do you think you weren’t able to craft a deal among the Republican Party?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we were very close.  We were just probably anywhere from 10 to 15 votes short.  Could have even been closer than that.  You’ll never know because you’ll never know how they vote.  But in the end, I think we would have been 10 votes, maybe closer.  And it was very hard to get almost 100 percent.  You’re talking about a very, very large number of votes — among any group.  And we were very close to doing it.  But when you get no votes from the other side — meaning the Democrats — it’s really a difficult situation.

Q    Will you reach out to the Democrats now?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I think we have to let Obamacare go its way for a little while, and we’ll see how things go.  I’d love to see it do well, but it can’t.  I mean, it can’t.  It’s not a question of, gee — I hope it does well.  I would love it to do well.  I want great healthcare for the people of this nation.  But it can’t do well.  It’s imploding, and soon will explode, and it’s not going to be pretty.

So the Democrats don’t want to see that, so they’re going to reach out when they’re ready.  And whenever they’re ready, we’re ready.

Q    Do you feel betrayed by the House Freedom Caucus at all?  They seemed to be the most difficult to get.

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I’m not betrayed.  They’re friends of mine.  I’m disappointed because we could have had it.  So I’m disappointed.  I’m a little surprised, to be honest with you.  We really had it.  It was pretty much there within grasp.  But I’ll tell you what’s going to come out of it is a better bill — I really believe a better bill.  Because there were things in this bill I didn’t particularly love.  And I think it’s a better bill.  

You know, both parties can get together and do real healthcare.  That’s the best thing.  Obamacare was rammed down everyone’s throat — 100 percent Democrat.  And I think having bipartisan would be a big, big improvement.  

So, no, I think that this is going to end up being a very good thing.  I’m disappointed, but they’re friends of mine, and they got — this is a very hard time for them and a very hard vote.  But they’re very good people.

Q    You mentioned that there were things in this bill that you didn’t necessarily love.  What specifically are those?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think we could have things that I would have liked more.  And if we had bipartisan, I really think we could have a healthcare bill that would be the ultimate.  And I think the Democrats know that also.  And some day, in the not–too-distant future, that will happen.  

And I never said — I guess I’m here, what, 64 days?  I never said repeal and replace Obamacare — you’ve all heard my speeches — I never said repeal it and replace it within 64 days.  I have a long time.  But I want to have a great healthcare bill and plan — and we will.  It will happen.  And it won’t be in the very distant future.  I really believe there will be some Democrat support, and that will happen, and it will be an even better bill.  I think this was a very good bill.  I think it will be even better the next time around.  I don’t think that’s going to be in too long a period of time.

Q    Anything specifically you want to see changed going from this bill to the next bill?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I mean, I don’t want to speak about specifics, but there are things I could have — I would have liked even more.  But I feel overall this was a very, very good bill.  And I thought Tom Price — Dr. Tom Price — who really is amazing on healthcare, his knowledge — I thought he did a fantastic job.  Same with Mike Pence.  I think these two guys — they worked so hard and really did a fantastic job.

Thank you very much.  Thank you.  

END  
4:36 P.M. EDT



Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/24/remarks-president-trump-health-care-bill

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  • Just sharing a new site i found. Loving it so far. Refreshing actually.

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  • The Healthcare Reform issue will never be fare and equal for all of the United States citizens until we get rid of the healthcare insurance companies and create a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. What is the matter with our U. S. congress? Do they receive campaign donations from healthcare insurance companies and are protecting these healthcare money sucking vampires? If Trump wants my vote in 2020 he will have to work and put in place a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. I know that we can do it; this is not hard to do. The many that I have mingled with (the silent majority) wants this now! Remember Trump represents all of the citizens of the United States not the Republican party. There are about 59,266,437 U.S. citizens that are over the age of 55 and we vote. Action speaks louder than words; demand our U.S. congress that you want a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM now! Please review healthcare exploratory information herein.

    The United States needs a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

    To Whom Who Has the Guts to Prepare For the Future,
    The U. S. government’s proposed plan for the Obamacare Replacement is not going to work. Our U.S. Congress does not understand human behavior! They are just creating more bureaucratic laws of which many will avoid participating. Also, many major healthcare insurance companies are already doing business in every State now; so allowing healthcare insurance companies to crisscross State lines is more bureaucracy and a waste of time! Healthcare insurance companies will never do something that will limit their financial $bottom-line! The insurance business is about betting on risk. To make a wager on whether or not a human body will become ill or broken is insane risk; the human body is not a robot! If you try to grab more of the weekly earnings from each worker’s salary like an increase in the percent rate that a worker pays into Social Security to cover your so called idea for healthcare savings accounts; you are just creating another unfair inequality tax increase scam for the worker to pay; and they will yell and scream and call you liars, liars pants on fire! …and not vote for you next time. Our U.S. Congress does not see what’s coming down the future pike; technology and machines will be running everything; and that means that only about 20% or less of the total U.S. population will be working. The remainder of the population will be living on Social Security. The behavior of the U.S. Congress continues to show the people of the United States that they are not inventive and do not know what the hell they are doing. I am sending you my letter herein to try to steer the U.S. Congress’s boat that is lost at sea towards the right direction!

    Population activity for 2017 …(estimated figures from internet search):
    … 324,118,787 …(?estimation of U.S. total population for 2017)
    … 124,710,000 …(?estimation of U.S. population that are working; small percentage can afford to pay for healthcare in 2017)
    … 125,708,787 …(?estimation of adults not working and cannot pay for healthcare in 2017)
    … 73,700,000 …(?estimation of children up to 17 years of age and cannot pay for healthcare in 2017 unless they are protected by their parents and/or guardian; also note that there are over 100,000 foster children eligible for and waiting to be adopted too)

    The United States needs a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM now!

    We have public schools education system (education for all) paid for by the government; so we must create a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM for all our U.S. citizens too. Obama’s healthcare is more bureaucracy; plus, you can realize the many middlemen and healthcare insurance companies that are having a feeding $$$,$$$,$$$,$$$ billions frenzy with this type of Obama’s healthcare system. We need a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM paid for by our U.S. government’s collected taxes that covers everyone no matter if they are poor or wealthy, a veteran, a government employee, a private citizen, etc. (all equally covered). Government employees should not be given special full coverage healthcare paid for by the taxpayer when the taxpayer has mediocre healthcare or no healthcare at all. All U.S. citizens should be able to access healthcare treatment for any issue, from any doctor or hospital including full dental and vision that the U.S. government pays directly (no middlemen).

    We have too many government healthcare deals which causes middlemen to loot and the ability to commit fraud …(estimated figures from internet search.):

    …separate healthcare for the veterans (which is mediocre healthcare (mediocre veteran doctors and mediocre veteran hospitals) for our veterans; a veteran should be able to access any doctor and hospital to cause competition in the healthcare market to improve healthcare services overall);
    About 21,800,000 million veterans that are voters.

    …healthcare known as Medicare (Medicare website says that Medicare doesn’t cover long-term care (also called custodial care), dental care & dentures, eye examinations related to prescribing glasses, cosmetic surgery, acupuncture, hearing aids and exams for fitting them, routine foot care, etc… — NO DENTAL, NO VISION, NO HEARING, etc. of which old people need desperately and can’t afford to pay for; so when you look in the mouth of an old person don’t be surprise that they have broken rotting infected teeth if any teeth at all. This is a serious health issue as this can lead to other aliments to the body. Also, seniors have to pay into this Medicare of which many cannot afford because the Social Security benefits they receive are below the poverty line and a hardship / destitution. The U.S. government is dangling a healthcare carrot in front of desperate seniors; a “carrot and stick” healthcare deal. Social Security benefits should be at least the federal minimum wage for “everyone equally”, even if they have never paid into it. It’s also discrimination and inequity towards women; you have many women seniors that have raised children and were stay at home moms that were snookered, abused mentally & physically, etc. by their spouse and divorced before the ten year criteria; and some were married to dead beat dads, etc. Life is not utopian; crap happens! Plus, Social Security benefits and senior age (class) should be rolled back to age fifty-five. Many elderly never reach their retirement age because of death and/or they are too disabled to enjoy their retirement. I am tired of seeing elderly people working at Wal-Mart when these elderly should be retired and a young person should be employed in their jobs; and keep in mind that the future is machines doing all the work including driverless public transportation, etc.; only 20% of the population will be working in the future);
    About 57,000,000 million voters on Medicare.

    …healthcare known as Medicaid (income bracket based);
    About 70,000,000 million voters that are on Medicaid.

    Above Total: about 148,800,000 million people (voters) are on government healthcare of the United States out of the overall estimated population of 324,118,787 million.

    AND… Obama government subsidized healthcare (income bracket based);
    About 11,400,000 million have Obama subsidized healthcare that are voters; this figure should tell you that no one is rushing through the doors for this healthcare deal!

    We need to get rid of all these healthcare deals and the United States must create a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM for all its citizens. Over half of the United States population is on government healthcare now if you count the children!

    AND… Individual doctors and hospitals will still be liable for bad medical diagnosis & treatments to patients; and these individual doctors and hospitals could be sued by their patients for personal injury. The government is just the “payer” of the “national healthcare” bill (proof of medical treatment purchase invoice) and not liable for bad medical diagnosis & treatments to patients. Healthcare competition (its services) in the market will improve remarkably!

    Being able to access individual doctors and hospitals is a life or death issue for all Americans equally.

    Our “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM should be part of and managed by the “Social Security Administration”. Our Social Security number is proof that the person seeking medical treatment is a citizen of the United States. The “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services” should be a subsidiary of the “Social Security Administration”. We need to lessen government departments and become efficient and well-organized. (Note: immigrants working in the United States should get a special Social Security number identifying that the person is an immigrant. They should also get special driver’s license cards identifying them as an immigrant. No immigrant should be issued a regular driver’s license in the United States whereby they can use it for identification to access voting in elections and other beneficial government programs.)

    By having a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM for all would cut out the middle men and healthcare insurance companies, which would save the government and everyone money in the long run. Insurance Plans are just a gimmick for the healthcare insurance companies to make money and not pay out! …it’s like insuring your right leg and not insuring the left leg of the human body! … Read the fine print (health benefits & health insurance plans contain exclusions and limitations). If most Americans were affected with some kind of new (sudden) disease outbreak that has no cure; does not cause death but causes crippling paraplegic bedridden disabilities; do you think the insurance companies would file bankruptcy because they could not handle the payout costs? Sure they would. There are about eighteen healthcare insurance companies in the United States that are raking in $100s of billions from Americans. It should be illegal to sell healthcare insurance in the United States; these healthcare insurance companies are nothing but vampires feeding off of the sick. Healthcare insurance company Aetna had a financial report of $734 million in profit on $15.8 billion in revenue for the third quarter in 2016; Aetna is the nation’s third-largest health insurer by revenue (and is in all States). If Americans did not spend (give) the $100s of billions to healthcare insurance companies; those $100s of billions would of been spent by Americans towards goods & services and would of improved the economy money flow overall. I know negative personalities will look at this prospect of having a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM for all as a bleak concern, until they are in dire-straits and over whelmed with an illness and/or a broken body then it will be too late for them.

    Note: National Health Expenditures 2015 Highlights (cms.gov/research) …In 2015, U.S. health care spending increased 5.8 percent to reach $3.2 trillion, or $9,990 per person. The coverage expansion that began in 2014 as a result of in the Affordable Care Act continued to have an impact on the growth of health care spending in 2015. Additionally, faster growth in total health care spending in 2015 was driven by stronger growth in spending for private health insurance, hospital care, physician and clinical services, and the continued strong growth in Medicaid and retail prescription drug spending. Lastly, the overall share of the U.S. economy devoted to health care spending was 17.8 percent in 2015, up from 17.4 percent in 2014.

    We could have a federal national 3% percent sales tax (transaction tax) to help pay for this “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM whereby everyone is making a contribution to our NATIONAL HEALTHCARE FUND via their buying activity;
    …and the States could share the cost and have a 3% percent sales tax increase added to their State’s sales tax percent to help pay for our “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM which would create a 6% percent combined federal tax revenue.
    …We should collect a federal 3% percent sales tax on all transactions from all the United States financial exchanges! That would help pay for our “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM! We should realize that the financial exchanges are high roller speculative gambling casinos; a serious investor holds their security for long term; and I don’t see much of that with all that daily buying and selling activity on all of the financial exchanges.
    …Example: the trading volume on the NYSE in 2015 totaled U.S. $18 trillion, nearly equal to the U.S. gross domestic product and approximately 20% of the gross world product, according to an estimate calculated by the World Bank (fxcm info.).
    …The NYSE averaged over U.S. $170 billion in daily trading value (2015). (Just think about this: a federal 3% percent sales tax on $170,000,000,000 = $5,100,000,000 each day collected from the NYSE to pay for our “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM; and that was the 2015 figure! What will be the 2017 figure! I say it will be a huge amount of cash!
    AND… don’t forget that we will be collecting a federal 3% percent sales tax from all the financial exchanges combined; which will total an enormous amount of cash daily!
    …All these collected federal 3% percent sales taxes on all transactions from all of the United States financial exchanges; and all these collected federal 3% percent sales taxes (6% if you add the States 3% contribution) on goods and services go straight into the “Social Security Administration” account to pay for our “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

    Please President Trump work on this important issue…
    …a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM for all its citizens is a must for the United States now!

    Make a note (March 2017) about the U.S. congress’s new healthcare reform law (bill) called the American Health Care Act that is 123 pages long; of which ten pages of this so called new healthcare law (bill) is devoted to lottery winners (as like lump sums / like lottery winnings may disqualify Medicaid recipients for federal funds). The new administration promised us less government control and regulations; why do we need ten pages of the new healthcare law centering on lottery winners? Our U.S. congress is still lost at sea with a hole in their boat!

    Contact the U.S. Congress today and demand for a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM!
    …If you want a good healthcare system, make the designers of the healthcare system (U.S. representatives and senators) have it as their own healthcare insurance too.

    Look Beyond the Stars for Spiritual Guidance,
    Christina M. Vahlsing, Vahlsing Inc.
    Email: [email protected]

    Action speaks louder than words. Everyone just aggressively spread the word, riot in the streets and break down the door of their U.S. congressman and demand them that you want a “ONE” FULL COVERAGE NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

    https://www.change.org/p/christina-m-vahlsing-the-united-states-needs-a-one-full-coverage-national-healthcare-system-now

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