After news today that health insurance giant Aetna would withdraw from 11 of the 15 states where it offers plans through Obamacare exchanges, the Donald Trump presidential campaign said Trump continues to support repealing Obamacare. Aetna is the latest major national health insurer to pull back sharply from the Obamacare exchanges after major financial losses.
Aetna announced Monday that it would reduce its participation in Obamacare by more than two-thirds, after suffering a $200 million loss in the second quarter of this year thanks to Obamacare.
“Providing affordable, high-quality health care options to consumers is not possible without a balanced risk pool,” the company said in a statement. “Fifty-five percent of our individual on-exchange membership is new in 2016, and in the second quarter we saw individuals in need of high-cost care represent an even larger share of our on-exchange population.”
Trump’s presidential campaign said Aetna’s decision to withdraw health plans under Obamacare shows the law is “slowly imploding.”
Trump aide Dan Kowalski said in a statement that the Republican nominee has vowed to replace Obamacare and that “under a Trump presidency the government will work for the people again.” See below:
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Trump has consistently called for repealing Obamacare during the campaign.
During a townhall meeting while on the campaign trail in Tampa, Florida in March, Trump called Obamacare a disaster and said that, under his administration, it would be “repealed and replaced.”
The pro-life movement strongly opposed Obamacare because of the abortion funding and rationing components of the legislation and because of the trampling of conscience rights for pro-life groups and businesses. But millions of Americans also opposed Obamacare because they knew it would lead to higher health care premiums.
On the campaign trail, Trump spoke to those concerns. His comments are a contrast to Hillary Clinton, who was confronted by a voter whose health care costs have tripled since Obamacare. Clinton essentially brushes off the comment and, in an insensitive reply, tells the voter to go shopping for new health insurance.
“ObamaCare is a disaster. It will be repealed and replaced,” Trump said.
He continued:
“And we will have alternatives that will be so good, so much less expensive, so much better that you will actually be able to keep your doctor and have your plan. That was the big lie of all of them. That was a big lie. 28 times. You can keep your doctor, you can keep — all a big lie. And ObamaCare is a disaster, Premiums are going up 45-55 percent. And we just gonna do something and it’s gonna be great. We’re going to end up having a great, great healthcare. Trust me. And I know a lot about healthcare. We are going to have a great healthcare.”
