Washington: After being sworn in as US President, Donald Trump would convene a special session of the US Congress to "repeal and replace" Obamacare, the signature healthcare initiative of the outgoing US President Barack Obama, a close aide to the president-elect said today.
"He (Trump) has talked about convening a special session on January 20th after he is sworn in as President of the United States to do this very thing, to repeal and replace Obamacare," the Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway said.
Conway said that the House and Senate under Republican control has repealed Obamacare dozens of times, but they never had a Republican president to go the next step.
"Trump has made very clear what his healthcare plan would look like and it would not look like the Affordable Care Act and Obamacare," she told the Fox News in an interview.
"It would do what Obamacare doesn't do: let you buy health insurance across state lines the way you can buy auto insurance and other goods and services. It would block grant Medicaid to the states. It would create health savings accounts to individuals, which is a very free market solution that works in the private sector in many places," she said.
Trump, she said, would also get rid of the Obamacare penalty practically on day one through his tax reform.
"So, what you see with Donald Trump is what you get, and I believe that's why the voters gave him this election and this mandate," she said.
In an interview to The Wall Street Journal, Trump had said that he would keep some provisions of the Obamacare.
This, he said, he decided after meeting Obama at the Oval Office on Thursday.
"I believe that Trump is being properly respectful to President Obama. But at the same time, this has been an incredibly important issue to millions of voters who have been disappointed in the ill effects of Obamacare. Their premiums have increased, their quality has gone down, it was a lie uttered dozens of times by the president and others that if you liked your plan you can keep your plan, if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor," she said.
"And now with the Obamacare premium notices coming into your mailboxes in October, many Americans woke up and said, wait, now I have to make tough choices about every day affordability when it comes to paying the rent or mortgage, food, consumables and my health insurance," Conway noted.
"So, this is an issue that helped the Republicans win and keep the House and Senate in 2010 and 2014 in those off year elections, and in 2016, they went for a president who had Obamacare repeal and replacement as a centerpiece of his messaging," she said.
Conway said by giving Republicans a majority in both the House and the Senate, voters have also said, stop hiding behind divided government.
"That excuse has been removed and I think you're going to see him take some significant action on Obamacare and on these other issues that he talked about like tax reform, defeating radical Islamic terrorism, certainly energy and infrastructure investments, educational opportunities," she said.
Conway said that Trump is off to a great start when he said in his victory speech by saying he represent all Americans, even those who did not support him.
Trump, he said, is willing to work with everyone who is willing to work with him.
