Hillary Clinton: Health care costs would skyrocket under Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday admitted that health care costs have risen too much, but she also warned that they would “skyrocket” if Donald Trump is elected president.
Speaking to Miami’s Hot 105 radio station, the Democratic presidential nominee was asked to react to reports about Obamacare premiums going up 25 percent.
“Well, we’re going to make changes to fix problems like that,” Clinton said. “The president and I have talked about it, and look, this is a major step forward: 20 million people. And actually, I’m sure you noticed, predominantly working people, African American, Latino people now have access to insurance, but the costs have gone up too much.”
If elected, Clinton said her administration would get “copays and premiums and deductibles down” and would “tackle prescription drug costs.”
Trump, on the other hand, would tear President Obama’s signature health care law apart, she said.
“That’s the plan of my opponent – take everything away, give it all back to the insurance companies. And if you think costs have gone up with the recent weeks, it’ll just skyrocket up because insurance companies will be in charge again,” she said.
The Obama administration confirmed Monday that premiums will go up sharply under Obamacare next year. A report from the Department of Health and Human Services said that before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan would increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states that are in the federally-run market.
Trump slammed Obamacare during an event at Trump National Doral golf course on Tuesday.
“This election is going to be about Obamacare -- it’s going to be about jobs; it’s going to be about a lot of things,” Trump said. “But Obamacare is just blowing up, and even the White House, our president, announced 25 or 26 percent. That number is so wrong. That is such a phony number. You’re talking about 60,70, 80 percent in increases, not 25 percent.”