Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told President Trump that the Senate will not be moving comprehensive health care legislation before the 2020 election despite the US President’s request for the Republicans to do so.
McConnell said he made it clear to the president that Senate Republicans will work on bills to keep the cost of health care down but they would not work on any replacement for the Affordable Care Act, which the Trump administration is trying to strike down in court, the Hill reported.
“We had a good conversation yesterday afternoon and I pointed out to him the Senate Republicans’ view on dealing with comprehensive health care reform with a Democratic House of Representatives,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday, describing his conversation with Trump.
He said that he told the president that the Senate would not be working on it and Trump agreed with him, with Trump later tweeting that he would be developing a plan that he would take to the American people during the 2020 campaign.
“The Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare,” Trump wrote Monday night in a series of tweets after speaking to McConnell. “In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House.”
Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, and most of the provisions took effect in 2014. The healthcare law has faced fierce opposition from the Republican Party. President Donald Trump has pledged to repeal and replace Obamacare since the early days of his administration.