Trump friend says president should ditch House conservatives, seek bipartisan health plan

Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of the conservative Newsmax, is urging President Trump to distance himself from the hard-line conservatives in Congress that want to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to work instead on bipartisan healthcare reform.

In an op-ed published Tuesday, Ruddy, who is a close friend of Trump, warned the president that he is at risk of inheriting the “bad political baggage” of both ObamaCare and conservative members of the House. He also cautioned that House Republicans’ bill repealing and replacing ObamaCare will not fulfill Trump’s promise of universal healthcare.

“Ditch the Freedom Caucus and the handful of Senate Republicans who want a complete repeal of Obamacare,” he wrote. “They don’t agree with universal coverage and will never be placated.”

{mosads}The current GOP healthcare plan, Ruddy said, disproportionately benefits the wealthiest Americans by replacing healthcare subsidies with tax cuts. That policy is at odds with Trump’s promise to help blue-collar workers and lower- and middle-income Americans, he wrote.

“Interestingly, [the GOP bill] accepts key parts of the Obamacare law that benefit the insurance industry,” he said. “But it ends the Medicaid expansion program that benefits the poor and keeps costs down.”

“Instead, [the bill] forces poor individuals back into the private health insurance market with the help of tax credits. I wonder who that benefits?”

Ruddy said that Trump should convene a bipartisan committee to work on a plan to fix ObamaCare, rather than fully repeal it.

The House GOP’s healthcare legislation, known as the American Health Care Act, has faced backlash from Democrats, who oppose dismantling the ACA, and rank-and-file Republicans and conservatives, who argue that the bill doesn’t go far enough in repealing it. Trump, however, has thrown his support behind the measure and has urged Congress to quickly pass it.

The Congressional Budget Office released its evaluation of the bill late Monday, estimating that 24 million people would lose their health coverage over the next 10 years as a result.