Rick Scott to Congress: ‘Do your job,’ repeal and replace Obamacare

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott was in Jacksonville for a job creation event. But national stories involving the President crowded out the gaggle.

The big story: the subject of the stalled out movement to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

In recent months, Scott has played a pivotal role in attempts at healthcare reform, but to no avail so far. Multiple trips to Washington D.C. and meetings with the President and his staff have borne no policy fruit. Scott even went so far as to appear with VP Mike Pence in Jacksonville, as Pence attempted to sell the House version of healthcare reform.

Despite hiccups in the process, Scott reiterated his commitment to “repeal and replace,” and urged Congress to follow through.

“Obamacare’s a disaster,” Scott said, noting that prices for healthcare had “skyrocketed” since the ACA passed earlier this decade.

“Congress has got to do their job. They’ve got to repeal Obamacare. They need to replace it with something that’s going to drive the price of healthcare down, because that’s the big problem. That’s Congress’ job and I know the President’s focused on that, and it’s my expectation that they get it done,” Scott said.

“You need to repeal it and you need to replace it,” Scott said. “No one’s going to have access to good healthcare if costs keep going up, and that’s what’s happened.”

Scott noted that he predicted this fate for Obamacare as far back as 2009.

“The problem with healthcare is government involvement has caused costs to go up,” Scott said, limiting affordability of treatment for individuals, employers, and even the government itself.

“What’s happened with Obamacare is that no one can afford it,” Scott added.

Scott’s visit to Jacksonville included the gaggle, held at a company called Florida Forklift which opened a new Jacksonville facility on the Eastside. He followed that up with an 11:30 engagement at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.