Trump pushes Republicans to repeal Obamacare 'sometime next week'
According to a report from the New York Times, Trump told the Times' on Tuesday that he wants the ACA immediately repealed and replaced, calling the law a "catastrophic event."
Trump appeared to be pushing back at Republicans who have in recent days suggested delaying a repeal until a full replacement plan is developed. It also flies in the face of a plan by GOP lawmakers to pass a bill that would nominally repeal the bill while delaying actual implementation of the repeal anywhere from two to four years to build a replacement.
According to the Times report, Trump said he wants Obamacare repealed "probably sometime next week" and a replacement to be introduced "very quickly or simultaneously."
This is a massive undertaking given the complexity of the ACA.
A bill is currently in front of Senate committee that would repeal a bulk of Obamacare using the budget reconciliation process and has a deadline for January 27 to bring a full repeal bill to the Senate.
Five GOP Senators proposed an amendment to the bill on Monday night to extend this deadline to March 3 in order to give lawmakers more time to come to an agreement on a replacement bill.
The leader of the amendment, Sen. Bob Corker, said the delay was to ensure a replacement can be found to ensure that the more than 23 million people who have gained access to health insurance through the ACA do not see a disruption in their coverage.
"By extending the deadline for budget reconciliation instructions until March, Congress and the incoming administration will each have additional time to get the policy right," Corker said in a statement on Monday night.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a press conference on Tuesday that Republican leaders wanted to repeal and replace the ACA "concurrently."