SIOUX CITY, IOWA –
Governor Bobby Jindal said today that Governor Walker endorsed the
“fundamental underpinning of Obamacare” and called for a new
entitlement program in the proposal he outlined today to repeal
Obamacare. Governor Jindal was the first presidential candidate to
offer a detailed plan to repeal and replace all of Obamacare in April
2014.
Governor
Jindal said, “In a health care plan that is light on specifics,
Governor Walker endorsed the fundamental underpinning of Obamacare –
the notion that America needs
another entitlement program.
“In
Governor Walker’s plan, a new entitlement is created for every single
American human being from the time they are born right up until they
grow old and become eligible for Medicare
[1]. It is frankly shocking that
a Republican candidate for President would author a cradle to grave
plan like this.
“Governor
Walker has taken the bait laid out for him by the President, and has
accepted the notion that we need a new federal government entitlement
program, and now he is merely quibbling over the details. So here we
are again, not standing on free market principles, but rather,
establishing ourselves as 'cheaper Democrats.'
“Yes,
there are good features to Governor Walker’s plan. But, his plan is
fundamentally accepting the premise of Obamacare – that we need a new
federal entitlement program.
“I
think this may be what Jeb Bush was referring to when he said we need
to be willing to lose the primary. Surely we as Republicans have
more
courage than
this. Surely we can do better than simply producing our own
versions
of Obamacare lite.
“In fact we can, I outlined a
detailed conservative plan to
repeal
and replace Obamacare without a new federal entitlement
program. My
plan focuses on driving down
the cost of health care by embracing free market reforms.
“And
now for the real kicker – Governor Walker’s new entitlement plan is
very Washington in that it fails to tell us what it will cost. It
looks to me to be roughly $400 billion dollars a year. And we all
know
what that means, either raise taxes or add to the debt, which is so
very Washington.
“When
did conservatism die? When did we accept the idea of dependence
on
government? Governor Walker is confused here. In his stump
speech he
has some clever lines about how the Fourth of July is about
independence, not dependence. I like those lines. But
with this
Obamacare
lite health care proposal, he’s going to have to drop those lines from
his speech.”
_____________________________________________
[1] The Day One Freedom Plan, My Plan To Repeal and Replace
Obamacare, Chart on Page 9, Walker for President Website,
https://www.scottwalker.com/obamacare-plan/files/Day-One-Patient-Freedom-Plan.pdf
###
Contact: Shannon Dirmann, Press Secretary
Democratic
National
Committee
Governor Walker’s Health Plan: Lots of ‘Repeal’,
Not Much ‘Replace’
For
the last five years, the Republican response to the Affordable Care Act
has been “Repeal and Replace.” Governor Walker’s health plan – if it
can even be called that
– shows that the “replace” part of the GOP’s “repeal and replace”
mantra is a farce.
Here’s what Walker’s repeal plan would do:
-
Immediately
throw 19 million Americans off of their health insurance.
-
Restrict
families’ health care choices of quality affordable plans by destroying
insurance exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act.
-
Allow insurance companies to charge women more than men for health
care.
-
Increase the deficit by repealing
savings in the Affordable
Care Act.
-
Increase seniors’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and
preventive care.
-
Make it harder for Americans living with pre-existing conditions to
obtain coverage.
-
Block-grant
Medicaid money to the states, which is Washington-speak for cutting
health funding for needy families, people with disabilities,
low-income seniors and other groups.
“If
this vague grab-bag of conservative wish-list items is the best health
plan the GOP can come up with for the largest economy on earth, it’s
the clearest signal
yet that Republicans like Scott Walker are out of ideas and out of
touch.
“Thanks
to the Affordable Care Act, 16 million Americans have gained health
insurance, the uninsured rate is at its lowest point ever recorded,
health spending grew
at the slowest rate in 50 years, all while we’ve had 65 months of
consecutive private sector job growth. This law saves money and lives,
but Republicans’ only plan is repeal.” – DNC Spokesman Eric Walker