Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has unveiled a healthcare plan set to replace ObamaCare if he clinches the presidency, with the full proposal anticipated for release in the spring.
NBC’s Kristen Welker probed DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, regarding former President Trump’s unfulfilled pledge to revoke and replace ObamaCare during his tenure in the White House.
“Here’s what I will do. What I think they’re going to need to do is have a plan that will supersede ObamaCare, that will lower prices for people so that they can afford health care while also making sure that people will preexisting conditions are protected. And we’re going to look at the big institutions that are causing prices to be high: Big Pharma, big insurance, and big government,” he expressed on “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
However, he offered few details for his proposition when pressed on what “supersede” entailed, stating that his plan would feature coverage that is “different and better” at the “lowest possible price.”
“We need to have a health care plan that works,” he asserted when queried about repealing and replacing ObamaCare. “ObamaCare hasn’t worked. We are going to replace and supersede with a better — better plan.”
He mentioned that his team’s proposal would “definitely be addressing insurance, we’ll definitely be addressing big government, and we will be addressing Big Pharma.”
When pressed for specifics, DeSantis emphasized the need for “more transparency, more consumer choice, more affordable options, less red tape, less bureaucracy weighing everybody down.”
“And, for example, we need price transparency. If you want to lower prices, you need to have markets actually work,” he stressed. “Look, nobody knows how much anything costs. Well, of course it’s not going to lower prices. There’s third-party payers.”
“So we’re going to have transparency, and then we’re going to have folks have health plans available, so that if they do choose a procedure that’s cheaper than the one down the street that they actually share in the savings with lower premiums,” he continued.
Trump recently emphasized his desire to replace ObamaCare, rather than “terminate” it. He also indicated that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to one of former President Obama’s flagship legislations.
This came as a surprise to Republicans, who have largely avoided the healthcare debate in recent years as it became a losing issue for them. Trump also acknowledged that the failure to repeal the law in 2017 was a “a low point for the Republican Party.”
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