President Donald Trump criticized Obamacare as a way to make insurance companies rich during his remarks in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Friday night.
Trump’s comments come hours after he said he would call a meeting of health insurers to see if they can lower their rates, and after House Republicans sent legislation to the Senate to lower health care costs.
“The current Affordable Care Act, known as Barack Hussein Obamacare, was created to make insurance companies rich,” he said. “It was bad health care at a very high cost, and as you can see now the steep increase in premiums — the Democrats are demanding it.”
He added: “It was not good at all, ObamaCare. It was done to benefit the insurance companies, which are completely controlled by the Democrats.”
One of several concessions Democrats sought in the partial 43-day government shutdown starting in October was an extension of coronavirus-era Obamacare subsidies. The continuing order signed by Trump on November 13 is set to expire at the end of January, and Trump has indicated that Democrats may shut down the government again in an attempt to get an extension of the benefits.
“That’s why there could be a strike on January 30. There could be another lockout because the Democrats are completely in their hands – they are completely controlled by the insurance companies, the big rich corporations,” he added.
He added: “Again, I want the money to go directly to the people so that you can buy your own health care, and you will get much better health care at a much lower price, and the only losers will be the insurance companies that have gotten rich.”
During the announcement earlier Friday of nine more deals with drug companies to significantly lower prescription prices, the sixth to 14th agreement he has reached since late September, Trump said he plans to meet with insurers soon to push for lower prices for consumers.
“I will call a meeting of the insurance companies. I will see if they will lower their rates, to put it very frankly,” he said.
Trump said the meeting could take place in Florida while he is at Mar-a-Lago, or it could be in Washington, D.C., in the first week of his return to the White House, noting that major insurance companies have received “a lot more money than they deserve.”