Republican lawmakers will put an Obamacare repeal bill on President-elect Donald Trump's desk once he's in the White House, and he'll most likely sign it, but the replacement procedure won't immediately take place, Sen. John Barrasso said Wednesday.
"We were able to put a repeal bill on President Barack Obama's bill last year that he vetoed," the Wyoming Republican, who heads the Senate Republican Policy Committee, told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program.
"We'll be able to do that with a President Trump in the White House. He will sign that."
But the replacement plans won't come in a "2,000-page bill that we wheel down to the House," Barrasso continued. "It will be a step-by-step, smooth transition over a couple of years to make sure we can fully replace the patient-centered care the people want."
Americans want relief from Obamacare, he continued, which "raised costs, raised premiums, raised deductibles and took away their care."
Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who Trump plans to nominate to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary, is the right choice to move forward with repealing Obamacare, said Barrasso.
"He's a doctor," Barrasso said of Price. "He worked with patients. He knows the importance of taking care of families and giving them relief with what's happening with the healthcare law."
Republicans have been accused of plotting war against seniors' Medicare dollars over the Obamacare issue, but Barrasso said it's actually Democrats who are waging the fight.
"We want to take care of people across the country so people can get the care they need at a lower cost, so families don't have to worry about the headaches they had over this costly and complicated Obamacare scheme," said Barrasso.
"I want to work with people on both sides of the aisle. The Democrats said we know better, we know what's right and we are going to do it our way."
The Affordable Care Act was written "behind closed doors" in the office of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Barrasso said, but this time around Republicans "want to make sure people are involved from all over . . . We want the states and individuals to have freedom and flexibility and choice that they don't have in Obamacare."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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