Vice President Mike Pence defended the House's Obamacare replacement bill, saying it is what the American people called for. | Getty Pence defends House plan to repeal, replace Obamacare

Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday dismissed Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s criticism of the House’s Obamacare repeal-and-replace legislation.

The House on Monday unveiled its long-awaited plan to scrap former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The White House and both chambers of Congress hope to repeal it and sign into law a Republican replacement by April 7, before lawmakers take off for a two-week Easter recess.


In an interview Tuesday morning with Fox News, Paul blasted the House plan as “Obamacare lite” and warned that a provision to pay penalties to insurance companies rather than the government is likely “unconstitutional and could destroy the whole repeal plan.”

“This is Obamacare lite,” he said. “It will not pass. Conservatives are not going to take it.”

Asked whether the Kentucky Republican had valid complaints — specifically that the GOP plan won’t work, includes a bailout for insurance companies and does nothing to bring down prices — Pence told conservative radio host Brian Kilmeade, “I don’t believe he does, honestly.”

Pence, however, conceded that the House plan likely will evolve as it goes through what he framed as “a very open process on Capitol Hill” compared to the backroom dealing of Obamacare.

“We’ll listen to the senator and others about ways that we can improve it, but this is a bill that repeals the disastrous policy of Obamacare, which has resulted in premium increases for Americans in excess of 100 percent,” Pence said. “We set up in our replacement bill a national marketplace that will lower the cost of health insurance, even as we allow Americans to take advantage of tax credits to offset some of the costs of the insurance that they’ll be able to buy. We give states flexibility on Medicaid.”

The House legislation, Pence added, “is Obamacare done,” a twist on the adopted GOP phrase of “Obamacare gone” rather than “Obamacare lite” or “Obamacare 2.0.”

“And it’s what the American people called for in this last election,” he continued. “President Trump is keeping his word, and I’m very confident that as this debate goes forward, that the American people will see that we are closing the books on the Obamacare nightmare and we’re replacing it with reforms that capture the power of consumer choice in the private marketplace to lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of Obamacare.”

The current House bill lacks an aspect that President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for in a replacement plan: the ability to purchase insurance across state lines.

In a tweet Tuesday morning apparently in response to commentary on Fox News, Trump said,

“Don't worry, getting rid of state lines, which will promote competition, will be in phase 2 & 3 of healthcare rollout.”

He added in a follow-up tweet that he is “working on a new system where there will be competition in the Drug Industry,” vowing that prices “will come way down!”

Pence noted that the new administration and Congress are only at the beginning stages of a process to repeal and replace Obamacare. But Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, he said, “has already set into motion decisive action to create a national marketplace through administrative action and through regulatory reform. But this legislation, you know, begins the process of repealing Obamacare lock, stock and barrel.”

In a separate radio interview Tuesday morning with conservative radio host Mike Gallagher, Pence said key committees in the House will begin holding hearings this week.

“Take a look at the bill. Listen to the debates,” he urged skeptics who are wary of losing coverage. “Unlike Obamacare, this is all gonna happen in the open. I mean, they literally wrote Obamacare in a backroom and brought it to the floor, and Nancy Pelosi at the time said quote, ‘We need to vote on this bill so we can find out what’s in it.’”

“The hearings are starting this week,” he continued. “They’ll be in a number of key committees. There’ll be amendments. It’ll go through the full process over the next several weeks in the Congress, then in the Senate.”