Transcript - Remarks: Donald Trump Delivers Remarks on Healthcare - July 24, 2017 | Factba.se

Mike Pence

00:00:00 - 00:00:12 (12 sec)

Well, thank you, Dr. Price. And good afternoon to all. To the families who are gathered here from all across America, on behalf of the First Family, welcome to the White House.

Mike Pence

00:00:12 - 00:00:29 (17 sec)

Since the first day of this administration, President Donald Trump has been working to keep the promises that he made to the American people to rebuild our military, revive our economy. And this President has worked tirelessly to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Mike Pence

00:00:29 - 00:00:59 (30 sec)

President Trump knows that every day Obamacare survives is another day that American families and American businesses struggle. As we've traveled across the country, we've heard firsthand from Americans just like those who stand behind me today, from families who are bearing the cost of skyrocketing premiums and plummeting choices, from families who've lost their doctors, lost their insurance, and from families who are starting to lose hope that Congress will ever respond.

Mike Pence

00:00:59 - 00:01:19 (20 sec)

But as I've told every one of them and people all across this country, thanks to the leadership of President Trump, help is on the way. President Trump hears you. He is fighting for you, and he will keep fighting every day until we give the American people access to the world-class health care they deserve.

Mike Pence

00:01:19 - 00:01:36 (17 sec)

Tomorrow, the United States Senate will have the opportunity to begin the debate on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. And as the President said this morning, after years of talking and campaigning on it, now is the time for Republicans in the Senate to act.

Mike Pence

00:01:36 - 00:01:53 (17 sec)

Republicans in the Senate will have in his words a "chance to do the right thing" to keep their promise to the American people and these families and families all across this country. And this President and the American people are counting on the Senate to act.

Mike Pence

00:01:53 - 00:02:25 (32 sec)

So with gratitude for his leadership and his persistence and determination to make American health care great again, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce to these families and to all of you the 45th President of the United States of America -- President Donald Trump. [Applause]

Donald Trump

00:02:25 - 00:03:12 (47 sec)

Well thank you very much Vice President Pence, Secretary Price, and thank you everyone for being here today. For the past 17 years, Obamacare has wreaked havoc on the lives of innocent hardworking Americans. Behind me today, we have real American families, great families. We've spent a lot of time with them. We're suffering, because, seven years ago a small group of politicians and special interests in Washington engineered a government takeover of health care.

Donald Trump

00:03:12 - 00:04:00 (48 sec)

Every pledge that Washington Democrats made to pass that bill turned out to be a lie. It was a big fat ugly lie. Democrats promised Americans like Steve Finn, a former police officer in West Virginia, that they would save $2,500 a year under Obamacare. Instead, his premiums have more than tripled. That's pretty bad. As a result of Obamacare skyrocketing cost, Steve and his family, and many of his employees, had no other option than going on Medicaid and giving up their existing coverage. No choice.

Donald Trump

00:04:00 - 00:04:35 (35 sec)

For them, Obamacare, as promised, was a nightmare. Marjorie and Kevin Weer from South Carolina, have a son Monty who suffers from Spina Bifida. Washington Democrats promise families like the Weer's that if they like their doctor, they could keep their doctor. But now there's only one insurer left in the state exchange and Marjorie says that every year she waits anxious to learn if the doctors and hospitals, which our son needs the most, will remain in their network.

Donald Trump

00:04:35 - 00:05:14 (39 sec)

More Obamacare lies, and you've seen that up front, unfortunately, up front and personal. The Democrats promised Melissa Ackinson that her son's pre-existing conditions would be covered. The Ackinson quickly learned that Obamacare's promise of covering for pre-existing conditions was meaningless, though, if the doctors you need for your care aren't on your Obamacare plan. So you just have a meaningless promise and everybody knows it, and most people on Obamacare know it.

Donald Trump

00:05:14 - 00:05:43 (29 sec)

After an excruciating series of events and complications, Melissa and her husband found themselves just before Christmas, emotionally and financially devastated crying in a doctor's office, faced with yet another seemingly unpayable bill. When insurance wouldn't cover the Ackinson's care, they emptied out Melissa's 401k to pay their bills. They're not going to be, and they haven't been the first.

Donald Trump

00:05:43 - 00:06:27 (44 sec)

There are many many cases such as that. The 401ks. The first rule of medicine, is do no harm, but Obamacares lies, have caused this, and throughout the whole country, families like this, nothing but pain. Erin and Andy Witzig, our small business owners from Illinois. They have six children, their youngest daughter Poppy has a rare genetic condition. Children born with it or sometimes called butterfly children, because their skin is as fragile as the wings of a butterfly. Poppy has to wear special bandages all of the time. Unfortunately, under Obamacare.

Donald Trump

00:06:27 - 00:06:47 (20 sec)

Poppy's insurance has been repeatedly discontinued and replaced with what Washington deems equivalent policies, but for Poppy, these plans are not equivalent and Poppy's family has to spend precious time and tremendous resources fighting for exceptions for Poppy.

Donald Trump

00:06:47 - 00:07:15 (28 sec)

The Washington politicians who made those promises to Steve, Marjorie, Melissa, Erin and their beautiful children want to ignore all the pain, all the suffering and all of the money, the tremendous amounts of money, that these lies have caused. They want to forget about the countless Americans they've hurt. and the many that they are continuing to hurt every day, by refusing to help us replace Obamacare.

Donald Trump

00:07:15 - 00:07:48 (33 sec)

For the last seven years, Republicans have been united and standing up for Obamacare's victims, remember, repeal and replace, repeal and replace. They kept saying it over And over again. Every Republican running for office promised immediate relief from this disastrous law. We, as a party, must fulfill that solemn promise to the voters of this country, to repeal and replace what they've been saying for the last seven years.

Donald Trump

00:07:48 - 00:08:10 (22 sec)

But so far Senate Republicans have not done their job in ending the Obamacare nightmare. They now have a chance, however, to hopefully, hopefully fix what has been so badly broken for such a long time, and that is through replacement of a horrible disaster known as Obamacare.

Donald Trump

00:08:10 - 00:08:40 (30 sec)

The Senate is very close to the votes it needs to pass a replacement. The problem is, we have zero help from the Democrats. They're obstructionist, that's all they are. That's all they're good at is obstruction, making things not work. They say all the right things, and then they do exactly what they're not supposed to be doing. The Democrats aren't giving us one vote, so we need virtually every single vote from the Republicans. Not easy to do.

Donald Trump

00:08:40 - 00:09:06 (26 sec)

The Senate bill that is being considered outside of the outright repeal of Obamacare will also provide emergency relief for the law's victims, and it will deliver truly great health care and health care reforms that our citizens want, need and really should be demanding. Some are demanding. You'll see that at the voter booth. believe me.

Donald Trump

00:09:06 - 00:09:36 (30 sec)

Here are just some of these terrific reforms that we will be doing if everything works out the way it should. The Senate bill eliminates the painful individual mandate. It eliminates the job-killing employer mandate, repeals other burdensome taxes, and will significantly lower Americans premiums. It will stabilize collapsing health insurance markets and give Americans far more choice and far more flexibility.

Donald Trump

00:09:36 - 00:09:59 (23 sec)

The Senate bill protects coverage for pre-existing conditions, and you don't hear this from the Democrats. They like to tell you just the opposite, and they didn't even know the bill. They run out, they say: death, death, death. Well, Obamacare is death, that's the one that's death. And, besides that, it's failing, so you won't have it anyway. It dramatically expands popular health savings accounts

Donald Trump

00:09:59 - 00:10:36 (37 sec)

It provides tax credits, so Americans can purchase a private plan that is right for them and their families. It devotes substantial resources to fight the opioid, and this is a tremendous problem, the opioid epidemic. $45 billion is being put in, so that the people of many states like New Hampshire, Ohio and so many others that have such a big problem, can be helped and helped greatly. Gonna be fighting the drug problems very, very seriously, in my administration.

Donald Trump

00:10:36 - 00:10:55 (19 sec)

And it provides among many other things, higher quality care and more flexibility for states to administer Medicaid to better serve their poorest citizens. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on whether to allow this urgently needed bill to come to the Senate floor for debate.

Donald Trump

00:10:55 - 00:11:33 (38 sec)

The question for every senator, Democrat or Republican, is whether they will side with Obamacare's architects which have been so destructive to our country, or with it's forgotten victims. Any senator who votes against starting debate, is telling America that you are fine with the Obamacare nightmare, which is what it is. For Democrats, this vote is a chance to make up for the terrible harm they have inflicted on Americans, like those who are with us today, Obamacare has been for them a nightmare.

Donald Trump

00:11:33 - 00:12:01 (28 sec)

There is still time to do the right thing and for Senate Republicans, this is their chance to keep their promise. Over and over again, they said, repeal and replace, repeal and replace. But they can now keep their promise to the American people to provide emergency relief to those in desperate need of help and to improve health care for all Americans.

Donald Trump

00:12:01 - 00:12:41 (40 sec)

To every member of the Senate, I say this: the American people have waited long enough. There's been enough talk and no action. Now is the time for action. We are here to solve problems for the people. Obamacare has broken our health care system. It's broken. It's collapsing. It's gone. And now it is up to us to get great health care for the American people. We must repeal and replace Obamacare now. Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you.