gov. rick scott speaks about health care reform in fort lauderdale. | ap photo/j pat carter, file by christine sexton 11/09/16 07:46 pm est tallahassee <u+2014> florida gov. rick scott, who started his political career amid staunch opposition to president barack obama<u+2019>s health care overhaul, said wednesday that obamacare must be repealed, adding that the solution to lowering health care costs is through an employer-driven system where insurance companies are allowed to sell policies across state lines. <u+201c>i believe we have to repeal obamacare <u+2014> and i know there are a lot of people in washington who say it<u+2019>s not factual to say it<u+2019>s going to be repealed <u+2014> but it has to be repealed,<u+201d> scott told reporters in tallahassee. <u+201c>we cannot pay for this. there<u+2019>s no way americans are going to be able to get health care if we continue the path we are going down.<u+201d> story continued below scott, who made a similar pitch while appearing on fox news, joined other republicans who placed their sights on going after obamacare in the aftermath of the victory of donald trump over hillary clinton. majority leader mitch mcconnell signaled the senate would move swiftly to repeal obamacare now that the gop congress will have a republican president next year. "it's pretty high on our agenda as you know," the kentucky republican said on wednesday. "i would be shocked if we didn't move forward and keep our commitment to the american people." trump has vowed to repeal the affordable care act, which is unpopular with voters according to kaiser health surveys. the far reaching law has provisions that the public supports, such as requirements that insurers spend at least 85 percent of medical spending on health care delivery. but the employer and individual mandates were challenged all the way to the supreme court double-digit premium increases for plans inside the exchange became an issue during the presidential campaign with trump claiming credit for much of the scrutiny. the promises of repeal are coming during the fourth open enrollment in the federal health exchange where qualifying individuals could obtain tax credits to purchase insurance plans. roughly 1.5 million floridians were enrolled as of last march. once obamacare is repealed, said scott, the focus should be on lowering costs through increased competition and by allowing people to buy plans that <u+201c>fit their needs." <u+201c>then you have to make sure people get a job. if you want to get good health care, then the best way to get it is to get a good job.<u+201d> former democrat state representative and chief executive officer of the advocacy group florida chain, mark pafford said the state has tried scott<u+2019>s approach without success. pafford said killing obamacare would take the state and the nation backward and called the replacement plan <u+201c>comical.<u+201d> <u+201c>his 45 seconds may play some role in a future political campaign, but he<u+2019>s continuing to wring his hands over the health that his policies are delivering to floridians,<u+2019><u+2019> pafford said. appearing on fox news, scott was pressed by anchor neil cavuto about what would happen to the 20 million americans enrolled in exchanges. scott didn<u+2019>t give a definitive answer, but insisted that the people would continue to have some form of coverage and said there would continue to be a <u+201c>safety net.<u+201d> scott has wrangled with the obama administration over the use of federal health care dollars in the past and sued the obama administration for trying to force it to continue to fund a $2 billion medicaid program called the <u+201c>low income pool.<u+201d> trump<u+2019>s election dovetails with the expiration of a sweeping medicaid waiver that allows the state to require most people to enroll in a medicaid-managed care program. the agency for health care administration, which houses florida<u+2019>s $26 billion medicaid program, is requesting that it be extended. scott said he is looking forward to a trump administration and is anticipating the ability to have more flexibility to craft florida<u+2019>s $26 billion medicaid program into something the state thinks is appropriate. he said that dealing with the federal government in regards to medicaid is akin to living with your mother. <u+201c>let us run the programs the way we believe for our state. if we don<u+2019>t do it the right way, our citizens won<u+2019>t re-elect us. it<u+2019>s exactly what happened in this election. they decided that obamacare is not working in this country. we didn<u+2019>t get to keep our doctors. our health care premiums skyrocketed rather than go down. that<u+2019>s what<u+2019>s happening. this election was an election on barack obama<u+2019>s policies <u+2026>.<u+201d> marc caputo's must-read briefing on what's hot, crazy or shady about politics in the sunshine state.
scott wants incoming trump administration to repeal obamacare as its top priority
christine sexton