Senator Rand Paul, who met with Donald Trump Tuesday in an attempt to thrash out the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, today compared nationalized healthcare to a Soviet gulag.
Appearing on under fire CNN, the Senator was arguing in favor of voluntary groups being able to buy healthcare policies, rather than having to fork out to insurance companies for expensive individual insurance.
Paul described it as “a way out of that individual conundrum,” adding that a “big group”has the “leverage to demand” more extensive coverage at a more affordable cost.
When CNN host Erin Burnett attempted to spin Paul’s idea into a an argument for a monolithic socialist healthcare system, the Senator wasn’t impressed.
"We have very specific asks" to vote yes- @RandPaul. One of them:young men shouldn't have to buy pregnancy insurance https://t.co/sOOF9lMqH7
— Erin Burnett (@ErinBurnett) June 27, 2017
“So why not go for the biggest group of all and just have insurance for everybody?” Burnett asked the Senator.
“Socialism’s not a good idea,” Paul exclaimed, adding “Socialism’s an utter failure,” and pointing to Venezuela as a current example of the failure of such a system.
“You did just make a great argument for nationalized health care,” Burnett claimed.
“You said ‘the bigger the group, the lower the cost,’ so all I’m taking is your argument to its logical conclusion.” she added.
Paul responded succinctly, urging “I was talking about voluntary groups, not the gulag.”
The Senator tweeted out Tuesday that he was scheduled to meet with President Trump to “fix” the Republican healthcare bill and achieve a “real repeal” of Obamacare.
I'll discuss w/ him how to fix bill & get more to a YES on real repeal, things I've tried to tell Senate leaders with no result so far
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 27, 2017
After the meeting, Paul told reporters that Trump is open to his ideas on the bill:
.@RandPaul Says @realDonaldTrump Is Open to His Ideas on Healthcare Bill: https://t.co/dEsOhKvvXu
— Fox Nation (@foxnation) June 27, 2017
Just came from WH. @realDonaldTrump is open to making bill better. Is Senate leadership?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 27, 2017
Paul also appeared on CBS programming Wednesday morning to discuss the progress of the bill:
“We’ve kept 10 out of the 12 regulations….you have to repeal the regulations if you want to bring down prices for people” — Sen @RandPaul pic.twitter.com/VeYZLPi3eX
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 28, 2017
Paul has described the bill in its current form as ‘terrible’, saying it retains too many provisions of the original Obamacare legislation, and may even pave the way for more subsidies.
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