Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that Republicans will “never” repeal and replace Obamacare, speaking ahead of the Senate’s latest attempt to kill the health care law.
“Here we are, seven months into this year, and yet they’ve not passed this bill. Now, they’re never, they’re not going to repeal and replace Obamacare,” Boehner said in a speech last week. “It’s been around too long. And the American people have gotten accustomed to it. Governors have gotten accustomed to this Medicaid expansion, and so trying to pull it back is really not going to work.”
The Washington Post on Tuesday posted video of the address, which Boehner delivered during a pharmaceutical industry conference in Las Vegas on Friday.
Senate Republicans are on Tuesday giving their Obamacare repeal efforts another shot, voting on whether to proceed with the House GOP’s health care bill.
“Republicans could then put up amendments to replace that measure entirely. A repeal-only bill, a revised replacement bill, and legislation to give states the power to decide Obamacare all were expected to get a vote.”
It wasn’t clear, however, what the text of those bills would look like, whether the provisions would survive the Senate’s Byrd rule, and ― the biggest question of all ― whether McConnell has the votes for passage.
Under Boehner’s leadership, House Republicans spent years trying to take down President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. However, since leaving office, the former Ohio congressman has indicated he doesn’t think a full repeal is possible.
“I shouldn’t have called it repeal and replace because that’s not what’s going to happen,” Boehner told Politico in February. ”[Republicans are] basically going to fix the flaws and put a more conservative box around it.”
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