Trump says Obamacare is 'dead' in a Saturday afternoon tweetstorm
Donald Trump attacked the media and the Affordable Care Act in a pair of tweets posted Saturday afternoon.
"The failing @nytimes finally gets it - 'In places where no insurance company offers plans, there will be no way for ObamaCare customers to ... use subsidies to buy health plans.' In other words, Ocare is dead. Good things will happen, however, either with Republicans or Dems," the president tweeted
Trump was referring to a New York Times story from Friday.
The president has railed against Obamacare and the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus ever since the failure of the American Health Care Act, his first major legislative push for healthcare reform. The bill was pulled from the floor of the House when it became clear it would not have enough votes to pass, and months after Trump promised he would repeal and replace Obamacare "within days" of assuming office.
The Freedom Caucus - which was largely responsible for sinking the AHCA - has borne the brunt of Trump's anger, with the president calling it bad for the Republican agenda and threatening to back challengers to the Freedom Caucus in primary elections.
Moreover, contrary to the president's claims that Obamacare is "dead" and will implode, analysis by the Brookings Institution showed Obamacare did not qualify under the technical definition of a "death spiral" after the 2016-2017 open enrollment period.