Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman on Obamacare: ‘Let’s Repeal It as Quickly as We Can’

Caleb Ecarma / James Rogers / January 31, 2017

Several Republican congressmen from the House Freedom Caucus say they want a full repeal and replacement of Obamacare, despite private talk from some GOP lawmakers about a partial repeal.

Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.; Mark Meadows, R-N.C.; Raul Labrador, R-Idaho; Scott Perry, R-Pa.; Mark Sanford, R-S.C.; and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; were all present at the January meeting of Conversations with Conservatives, a monthly press Q&A hosted by conservative lawmakers and The Heritage Foundation.

When Jordan was asked how he felt about the progress Republican lawmakers had made on Obamacare, he said, “I’d like to see an acceleration of the front-end repeal side … let’s get rid of [Obamacare], that’s what we told the voters that we were going to do. Let’s repeal it as quickly as we can and let’s have the effective day be not three and four years down the road.”

The congressman from Ohio added, “health care will be better and cost less when Obamacare is gone.”

“Let’s get after it as soon as we can and repeal everything: every tax, every mandate, and most importantly, every single regulation because I believe that’s [what will be] driving down premiums and deductible costs,” concluded Jordan on the issue of an Obamacare repeal.

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Perry went on to stress the importance of having an alternative health care plan at or soon after the time of repeal, saying, “I do think that the repeal and the alternative needs to happen at the same [time], or …. with[in] a week or two or something like that.”

Labrador, Perry, Sanford, and Jordan all agreed that Obamacare must be repealed, with Sanford saying, “Just in terms of the political realm, I think as a vote for conservatives, it would be very difficult for any of us, at the end of the day, to not vote yes on repeal, whether it’s concurrent or not with regard to replace.”

Talking about a replacement for Obamacare, Labrador said, “I want to make sure that we’re gonna move to a free-market plan. And I’m encouraging our leadership to take a bold position on this and move as far away from Obamacare and government-centered health care as possible.”

Jordan agreed, saying, “Ideally, we’d like a plan that’s free market-oriented, patient-oriented, doctor-oriented, community-oriented; not [as] Washington-focused as Obamacare.”