Pence: GOP will try again to repeal ObamaCare if elections go well

Vice President Pence said Thursday that Republicans plan to give another try to repealing and replacing ObamaCare if they do well enough in November’s elections.

Pence made the remarks to reporters while in Wisconsin to campaign for GOP Senate candidate Leah Vukmir, saying that if she wins, it would help Republicans with their goal of eventually repealing the health-care law.

“We made an effort to fully repeal and replace ObamaCare and we’ll continue, with Leah Vukmir in the Senate, we’ll continue to go back to that,” Pence told reporters.

{mosads}Democrats jumped on the comments, warning that Republican victories in the election would threaten health-care protections.

“VP Pence admits GOP’s hidden plan – win more Senate seats so they can pass health care repeal that raises costs and eliminates protections,” wrote Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson. 

Republicans would need to keep control of the House and likely gain Senate seats to have another chance at repealing the law, given that there are a handful of GOP senators who opposed last year’s repeal efforts.

Pence said that in the meantime the administration is taking action to try to open up cheaper options for consumers. The administration, for example, expanded short-term health insurance plans that are cheaper, but that Democrats deride as “junk” insurance because they do not have to cover pre-existing conditions or a range of health services.

Vukmir’s opponent, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), has introduced a bill to overturn that Trump administration regulation.

“The real answer is to allow people across Wisconsin and across America to have more choices to allow the marketplace to breathe,” Pence said. “And so our administration is taking every step that we can through administration action and through regulatory policy to encourage innovation in health care to lower the cost of health care.”