House Republican blames Trump for healthcare failure: He ‘never laid out a plan’

Some members of President Trump’s own party are laying the blame on the White House for allowing the GOP effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare to fail.

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), chairman of the moderate Tuesday Group, told The Associated Press that the White House did little to sell the GOP health plan to the American people.

“One of the failures was the president never laid out a plan or his core principles and never sold them to the American people,” Dent said. “[He] outsourced the whole issue to Congress.”

Trump, for his part, laid the blame on a trio of Senate Republicans who voted against the bill.

{mosads}

“3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!” he tweeted Friday morning.

Republicans hold a 52-seat majority in the Senate and could have afforded two defections and still passed a healthcare bill. A pared-down bill to repeal ObamaCare failed early Friday after Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) voted against it.

Some Republicans have floated working with Democrats on healthcare following the defeat of the so-called “skinny” bill Friday, the GOP’s backup ObamaCare repeal plan.

“Let me be clear. The Affordable Care Act has been a failure. It has increased premiums, reduced patient choice, and placed tremendous financial burdens on thousands of hospitals in states that did not expand Medicaid,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in a statement on Friday.

“I have consistently voted to repeal and replace Obamacare. I believe it is ultimately unsustainable, and that Congress must address the issue honestly and candidly. If that means dealing seriously with Democrats who want to fix the problem, rather than exploit a political issue, I am more than willing to entertain those suggestions.”