2016 Presidential Race: Jeb Bush Outlines Healthcare Program to Replace Obamacare
Jeb Bush would repeal and replace President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law if he were to move into the White House come January 2017, the Republican presidential candidate announced on Monday.
The former Florida governor described Obamacare as a prime example of government overreach that has harmed the U.S. economy. The candidate promised to scrap the legislation in favor of a system he believes will cut back on regulation and lower healthcare costs, CNN reported.
"It's quite a legacy, if you think about it, and when you consider the wreckage, it makes you wonder how could anybody support this now," Bush said about the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.
The brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush also used the opportunity to criticize his key Democratic rivals in the 2016 White House race, with a nod to the their first presidential debate, according to the news channel.
"Well, Hillary Clinton supports [Obamacare], and so does Bernie Sanders and other Democrats," Jeb Bush noted. "And the debate tonight in Las Vegas will probably prove they will be strongly supportive of this top-down driven, highly bureaucratic insurance plan that stifling our ability to rise up."
Bush laid out his own healthcare proposal in a two-page document, which promised to give more power to states to regulate health insurance but contained no specific details on how many people could be left without coverage, Reuters noted. The Floridian guaranteed, however, that people with pre-existing health conditions would continue to be covered.
"Jeb believes we must repeal Obamacare and offer a conservative vision and plan of health care for the future," Allie Brandenburger, a Bush spokesperson, told the newswire.
How Bush's proposal plays with Hispanic voters -- a key demographic in the upcoming presidential election -- remains to be seen, but government statistics show that more than 10 million Latinos have benefited from Obamacare so far, CNN recalled. In fact, the Floridian's Democratic rivals planned to outline ways in their debate to expand the program to appeal to the Hispanic community, the news channel added.
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