“Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated,” U.S. President Donald Trump told a group of state governors on Monday.
“Yeah, we got a clue,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said of himself and other lawmakers who have worked on health care policy behind the scenes, later in the day.
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Trump’s remarks came on a day when he met with state politicians who were concerned about constituents losing their health coverage if the U.S. government repeals the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare.”
“It’s an unbelievably complex subject,” Trump said.
That’s one statement that both Trump and Sanders can agree on — though the latter will say he knows how complicated it is, thanks to his time on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labour and Pensions.
“When you provide health care in a nation of 320 million people, yeah, it is very, very complicated.”
Sanders went on to say that replacing Obamacare is “a little bit more complicated” than Republicans advocating for its repeal have likely appreciated.
He said that, now that Republicans are faced with having to repeal and replace the law, they can perhaps understand that they need to move “beyond rhetoric.”
“We remain today, and let’s not forget it, the only major country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people,” Sanders said.
“We pay the highest prices by far for prescription drugs. Let’s discuss those issues.”
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Medicaid, a national program that provides health coverage for low-income people, was expanded when Obamacare came into effect in 2010.
States were, however, able to opt out of the expansion — and that divide was apparent among governors who met on Monday.
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Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, for example, was concerned that changes to federal funding for Medicaid could hurt his state, which opted in.
Gov. Gary Herbert of Utah, a state that did not expand Medicaid, indicated he would be open to funding changes that would give his state flexibility to run its own programs.
Congressional leaders, meanwhile, made clear to governors that they were looking to cut Medicaid spending.
“Medicaid is on track to transform into a $1 trillion annual entitlement program we simply cannot afford,” California Rep. Kevin McCarthy said.
– With files from The Associated Press
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