Trump appears open to compromise on Obamacare

President-elect Donald Trump appeared open Friday to compromising on his oft-repeated pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare - citing a conversation with none other than President Barack Obama himself.

But the openness was complicated by a shift in the official positions listed on his website.

The comments, made in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, signal less of a policy shift for Trump than a change from the rhetoric that helped win him the presidency just three days ago and could set up a fight with conservatives.

Trump told the paper he was reconsidering his stance after Thursday’s meeting with Obama, who urged him to protect parts of the law. Trump said he would like to keep the provision forbidding discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and to allow young Americans to remain on their parents’ healthcare plans.

‘Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced,’ he said, acknowledging that it was Obama, who met with Trump in the Oval Office for 90 minutes, who encouraged him to reconsider. ‘I told him I will look at his suggestions, and out of respect, I will do that.’

Trump reiterated his plan in an interview with CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ to ensure individuals with pre-existing conditions continue to have coverage.

‘Yes, because it happens to be one of the strongest assets,’ Trump said.

Trump went on to explain to CBS that he would also try to keep the measure that allows young people to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26.

‘We’re going to very much try to keep that. It adds cost but it’s very much something we’re going to try to keep,’ Trump said.

When pressed about the time between repealing and replacing Obamacare, Trump assured CBS correspondent Leslie Stahl that the two would happen ‘simultaneously.’

‘It will be just fine. That’s what I do, I do a good job. You know, I know how to do this stuff. We’re going to repeal it and replace it. We`re not going to have, like, a two-day period, and we’re not going to have a two-year period where there’s nothing. It will be repealed and replaced and we`ll know. And it will be great health care for much less money,’ Trump said.

But the President-elect did not offer a replacement plan.

Trump also told the Journal that he would bring the country together and that ‘I want a country that loves each other.’ But that grace did not extend to any reflection on his coarse rhetoric.

When asked about whether his language was inappropriate, Trump said: ‘No. I won.’

Source: BBC