Lindsey Graham: Let Obamacare collapse

If President Donald Trump finds himself unable to broker a compromise on controversial legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, he should simply drop it and let the current health care system collapse, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday morning.

The repeal-and-replace legislation, dubbed the American Health Care Act, was officially introduced last week by GOP leadership in the House of Representatives, and the bill has the backing of the Trump administration, which has sought to shore up support for it.


Despite the backing of House leadership and the White House, the health care legislation has proved controversial even among Republican lawmakers. Some from the party’s conservative wing have announced their opposition to the bill because it does not go far enough in undoing certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act, while others in the GOP have said they cannot support it because of its cuts to Medicaid.

Graham, one of Trump’s most vocal GOP critics during the presidential campaign, credited the president for “really working hard” in support of the bill, telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Trump was "willing to go bowling with the Freedom Caucus. That shows you how much he wants a bill. I don't think I could have done that.”

Should the Republican Party fail to coalesce around the bill, Graham said he would advise the president to take a course of action that Trump himself has at times suggested: Allow the Affordable Care Act to fall apart and force Democrats to help pick up the pieces.

“Here’s what I would tell the president: If you can't get a better deal and if you can’t protect that 62-year-old worker in Greenville from having dramatic premium increases because Democrats won't work with you and you can't get the Republican Party on board, stop, take a time-out, let it collapse,” Graham said. “Then turn to the Democrats and say, 'This was the system you created. It has collapsed, now help me replace it.' That’s what I would do."

Graham said the plan to push some provisions of the full repeal-and-replace strategy through the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, including one that would allow consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines, is a “complete legislative fantasy.”

“Paul Ryan says this is the last, best chance for us. Well, this is the last, best chance for Republicans to do it by ourselves, and maybe screw it up,” Graham said. “So if you cannot get the product you want, Mr. President, don't buy it because Republicans tell you you have to.”