Ron DeSantis Blasts Trump and Also Reveals That He Will 'Supersede' Obamacare With a 'New Plan'

Florida Governor and 2024 Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis made some bold statements during NBC's "Meet the Press" interview on Sunday. The Republican frontrunner claimed that he would "supersede" Obamacare with a "better plan" if he came into power at the White House. “Obamacare hasn’t worked,” DeSantis stated to moderator Kristen Welker. “We are going to replace and supersede with a better plan.” As per NBC, he refrained from disclosing his entire strategy, but in a similar spirit, he censured former President Donald Trump for not fulfilling several policy commitments made during his presidency, particularly his repeated claims to replace the health care law.

As per The NYTimes, he said that he would replace the Affordable Care Act and that a proposal would probably be unveiled in the spring. He said:  “What I think they’re going to need to do is have a plan that will supersede Obamacare, that will lower prices for people so that they can afford health care, while also making sure that people with pre-existing conditions are protected." DeSantis confirmed that his plan would have "more transparency, more consumer choice, more affordable options, less red tape, less bureaucracy weighing everybody down." “We’re going to look at the big institutions that are causing prices to be high — big pharma, big insurance, and big government — but it’s going to need to be where you have a reform package that’s going to be put in place,” DeSantis said. “Obamacare promised lower premiums. It didn’t deliver that,” he added. “We know we need to go in a different direction, but it’s going to be done by having a plan that’s going to be able to supersede it.” 

Meanwhile, Trump had stated last month that he was "seriously looking at alternatives" to Obamacare, provoking a pointed condemnation from the campaign of President Joe Biden. "40 million people — more than 1 in 10 Americans — have health insurance today because of the Affordable Care Act and Donald Trump just said he would try to rip it away if he returns to power," Ammar Moussa, Biden's campaign spokesperson stated. 

DeSantis chastised Trump for bringing up the repeal of Obamacare as a campaign commitment despite having previously stated that he would carry it out during his first term. "This is part of a pattern where he's running on things that he didn't do." Sarafina Chitika also attacked the recent Obamacare criticisms made by DeSantis. 

The Democratic National Committee press secretary said: "If Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, and MAGA Republicans have their way, they’d send premiums skyrocketing to line the pockets of greedy health care executives and their wealthy buddies." Republicans were initially motivated to vote against the Affordable Care Act, but as time went on, the law's popularity increased, and Democrats benefited from Republicans' abortive attempt to abolish it in 2017.