If former president Donald Trump is reelected to the White House, Republican priorities will include “massive” reforms to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Johnson made the statement during a campaign event for Republican House candidate Ryan Mackenzie in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as reported by NBC News.
In his campaign for a second term, Trump has advocated for the reform of Obamacare, characterizing it as a “lousy” program.
“Health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda. When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” Johnson said.
“The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that,” Johnson continued in response to an attendee’s question.
The speaker’s comments were then subject to an immediate attack by the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, who accused him of attempting to repeal the Obama-era healthcare law.
During his inaugural tenure, Trump endeavored to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The legislation was defeated when a triumvirate of Republican senators—Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and the late John McCain of Arizona—voted with Democrats to halt the initiative.
The repeal of the individual mandate was one of the most significant reforms to the healthcare law, which Trump implemented through executive orders and amendments to other legislation.
The penalties that were scheduled to be implemented in 2019 for individuals who declined to enroll in the Affordable Care Act exchanges or purchase private health insurance were eliminated by a tax bill that was enacted in 2017.
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