Remarks at a Luncheon With Republican Members of Congress

The President. Please sit down. That was not hard. That wasn't hard. [Laughter] We're close. I think we're a lot closer than people understand, and we have to pull it through. So important.

But we're in this room today to deliver on our promise to the American people to repeal Obamacare and to ensure that they have the health care that they need. We have no choice. We have to repeal and replace Obamacare. We can repeal it, but the best is repeal and replace. And let's get going.

I intend to keep my promise, and I know you will too. Since 2013, Obamacare premiums have skyrocketed. In Alaska, they went up over 200 percent recently. We know that. In Arizona, they've been up 118 percent. And those States are good compared to some of the numbers that are coming out.

Despite the promise that premiums would decrease by $2,500 on average, they've actually increased by almost $3,000 and even much more than that, in some cases. It's crushing the middle class and the families of the middle class. It's, frankly, crushing our country.

Obamacare was a big lie. You can keep your doctor—lie. You can keep your plan—lie. It was a lie, directly from the President. You can keep your doctor; you can keep your plan—28 times he said it—28 times. And it was a lie, and he knew it was. And now it's hurting this country irreparably.

Premiums are so high that 6.5 million Americans chose to pay a fine to the IRS instead of buying insurance, the famous mandate: We will pay not to take the insurance. People don't understand that. They don't even understand what it is or what it represents.

If Obamacare is not repealed in 2018, over 1,300 counties in the United States will have only one insurer. Forty counties will have absolutely no coverage in the exchange, and that number will grow rapidly. And I think those numbers are extremely conservative. I think they're very low.

I've been here just 6 months. I'm ready to act. I have pen in hand, believe me. I'm sitting in that office; I have pen in hand. [Laughter] You never had that before. You know, for 7 years you had an easy route: We'll repeal, we'll replace, and he's never going to sign it. But I'm signing it. So it's a little bit different.

But I'm ready to act. For 7 years, you've promised the American people that you would repeal Obamacare. People are hurting. Inaction is not an option. And frankly, I don't think we should leave town unless we have a health insurance plan, unless we can give our people great health care. Because we're close. We're very close.

The other night, I was very surprised when I heard a couple of my friends—my friends—they really were and are—they might not be very much longer, but that's okay. [Laughter] I think—I have to get them back.

Senator Dean A. Heller. Thanks for not looking this way. [Laughter] The President. That's right. I just, I refused—well, no, you didn't go out there. This wasn't the one we were worried about, and you weren't there. But you're going to be. You're going to be. [Laughter] Look, he wants to remain a Senator, doesn't he? [Laughter] Okay. And I think the people of your State, which I know very well, I think they're going to appreciate what you, hopefully, will do.

Any Senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that you're fine with Obamacare. But being fine with Obamacare isn't an option for another reason: Because it's gone. It's failed. It's not going to be around.

We pay hundreds of millions of dollars a month in subsidies that the courts don't even want us to pay. And when those payments stop, it stops immediately. It doesn't take 2 years, 3 years, 1 year. It stops immediately.

On the other hand—and I have to say this—a "yes" vote will let Senators debate the future of health care and suggest different ways to improve the bill. And we're going to do that today. That's what we're going to do at lunch.

We are so close. The way I looked at it—you know, we have no Democrat help. They're obstructionists. That's all they're good at, is obstruction. They have no ideas. They've gone so far left, they're looking for single-payer. That's what they want. But single-payer will bankrupt our country, because it's more than we take in for just health care. So single-payer is never going to work, but that's what they'd like to do. They have no idea what the consequence will be, and it will be horrible, horrible health care, where you wait on line for weeks to even see a doctor.

But we're going to expand tax-free health savings accounts—the HSAs—to increase healthcare coverage, getting Washington out of the way and giving more control and funding back to the States, stabilizing exchanges so that those preexisting conditions are protected.

You know, you listen to Schumer, and before he even knew what the plan said—he didn't see it; most of the people in this room never saw it—and he was saying: "Death—everyone is going to die. Death, death, death." That's the only thing they're good at. And this is a great plan. This isn't just a good plan. This is far better than Obamacare and more generous than Obamacare.

Saving Medicaid, which is on an unsustainable—really, unsustainable path, and lets States spend those dollars freely. So the States are going to be able to spend the dollars. And as a smaller entity, the States will be able to take better care of a person with a bad back, with a bad prognosis, with a problem.

I'd like the Federal Government to focus on the Middle East, to focus on North Korea, to focus on things where we have very big problems. The States can do a better job than the Federal Government when it comes to health care, and that's what we're letting you do. And we're committing $45 billion to help combat the opioid epidemic. And some States in particular like that.

So my message today is really simple: We have to stay here. We shouldn't leave town. And we should hammer this out and get it done. And not just a repeal—hey, it was sort of early on, along with a few of the other folks at the table. The repeal was fine. I was with them. But we ought to get more than—I think the people of this country need more than a repeal. They need a repeal and a replace. And we were very, very close. And then, little things happened. But now we're very close again. We have to get it there. Now, with John Cornyn, the other night we had a couple of things that we put down on paper. I'm just going to read them really fast. But these are some of the things that are done. Because the Democrats are always selling their plan, but they don't do that anymore. They don't talk about Obamacare anymore, because they can't, because it's failed. They know it. So they're selling their plan, and we never sell our plan. If we're weak on anything, it's on letting people know how good it was.

So we wrote down these few things: repeals the individual mandate—how big is that?—where people are paying not to have insurance. Nobody ever talks about that. Repeals job-killing employer mandate. How big is that? Will substantially lower premiums.

And remember this: cross country lines—cross State lines where you have—where it's almost impossible for insurance companies to compete in different States. We can't because of, unfortunately, the 60 votes put that here, but it's going to come very soon. We're putting it in a popular bill, and that will come. And that will come, and your premiums will be down 60 and 70 percent. People don't know that. Nobody hears it. Nobody talks about it. But your premiums are going to—we're going to have the "cross State lines" knocked out, and you'll have insurance companies bidding. You'll have forms of insurance that you don't even know about right now because that's the way it works. There's going to be tremendous competition. So your premiums will be substantially lower.

Repeals burdensome taxes—big. Will restore choices. The bill also provides for expanded coverage options—the options. So you're going to have a tremendously expanded coverage and options. Will stabilize insurance markets. The markets right now, by the way, are gone. They're a mess. And depending on what happens here, depending on what happens over the next couple of weeks, the insurance companies are all fleeing.

Will protect preexisting condition coverage. You listen to the Democrats, they say, oh, they're giving up. You're going to have better preexisting than they had in their plan, and you're going to be protected. Will allow the use of pretax dollars to pay premiums. Will expand the HSAs. Will devote substantial resources to fight opioid and other substance abuse. Will provide better coverage for low-income Americans.

By the way, low-income Americans, under our plan—and we're doing things at this meeting which I think you'll be very happy about because we're going to spend some more money to make sure everybody is protected. Will provide better coverage for low-income Americans; will improve medical outcomes for low-income Americans; puts Medicaid on a sustainable path, which it's not on right now; levels the playing field for States when it comes to Federal dollars; reforms major entitlements, now a principal driver of the $20 trillion debt that we have; and will redirect authority from Washington, DC, to the States, which I've already said, where they can innovate and develop the best practices, and on a smaller basis, they'll be able to take care of people better.

So we can repeal, but we should repeal and replace, and we shouldn't leave town until this is complete, until this bill is on my desk, and until we all go over to the Oval Office, I'll sign it, and we can celebrate for the American people.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.