Presidential Weekly Address - 10 March 2017

My fellow Americans,

In March, we celebrate Women’s History Month, honoring the countless contributions that women leaders, scientists, and entrepreneurs have made throughout American history.

We are a greater, stronger, and more just Nation today because of women like Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, and so many others.

We honor them and we recommit ourselves to a better future for every woman in America today.

On my 50th day in office, I want to talk about an issue of paramount importance to families across our nation – healthcare.

Seven years ago this month, Obamacare was signed into law over the profound objections of American people. Our citizens were told they would have to pass Obamacare to find out what it was and how bad it was.

Now we know that the hundreds of pages were full of broken promises.

Americans were promised that Obamacare would bring premiums down $2,500 for a typical family. Instead, they’ve gone up by more than $4,000.

Americans were promised that Obamacare would increase competition and provide them with more choices. Instead, the number of plans to choose from has plummeted – and I mean plummeted.

This year, Americans in nearly one-third of all counties have only one insurer to choose from on the exchanges – or, in effect, no real choice at all.

Americans were promised that if they liked their health insurance and their doctors, they could keep them. Instead, millions of Americans lost the insurance and lost the doctor that they liked and were thrust into a cold new reality of higher costs and less coverage.

Through seven long years of botched rollouts, soaring costs, cancelled plans, and bureaucratic mandates, Americans have called out for relief. And relief is what we are determined to give them.

I want every American to know that action on Obamacare is an urgent necessity.

The law is collapsing around us, and if we do not act to save Americans from this wreckage, it will take our healthcare system all the way down with it. If we do nothing, millions more innocent Americans will be hurt – and badly hurt.

That’s why we must repeal and replace Obamacare.

House Republicans have put forward a plan that gets rid of this terrible law and replaces it with reforms that empower states and consumers.

You will have the choice and the freedom to make the decisions that are right for your family.

The House plan follows the guidelines I laid out in my recent address to Congress – expanding choice, lowering costs, and providing healthcare access for all.

This plan is part of a three-pronged reform process. In concert with the plan in front of Congress, I have directed Dr. Tom Price, our Secretary of Health and Human Services, to use his authority to reduce regulations that are driving up costs of care.

We are also working on reforms that lower the costs of care, like allowing Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines. You’ve heard me say that many, many times during the debates.

I encourage Democrats to work with us to improve the healthcare system for the American people. Also, we will be driving down the costs.

We will deliver relief to American workers, families, and small businesses, who right now are being crushed by Obamacare, by increasing freedom, choice, and opportunity for the American people.

Thank you very much.