In response to Ron DeSantis doubling down on echoing Donald Trump’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, DNC National Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika released the following statement:

“Ron DeSantis is once again taking a page out of Donald Trump’s extreme and unpopular MAGA playbook by doubling down on his threats to rip away health care from millions of Americans by repealing the Affordable Care Act. DeSantis’s failed policies have already wreaked havoc on Florida’s health care system – lining the pockets of big insurance and drug companies while leaving families uninsured and crushed under some of the highest health care costs in the country – and now he’s hellbent on taking that disastrous blueprint nationwide. DeSantis, Trump, and their fellow MAGA Republicans’ blatant attacks on our health care are a losing strategy, and voters will remind them of it in 2024.”

NEW: Ron DeSantis over the weekend doubled down on echoing Donald Trump’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and rip away health care from millions of Americans.

DeSantis: “That was one of [Trump’s] big promises as president, he had Republican majorities, and didn’t get the job done. … I opposed Obamacare, I did support the repeal and replace … What we’ll end up doing is effectively just superseding Obamacare.”

DeSantis earlier this month supported Trump’s calls to repeal the ACA and promised to “do a lot more.”

Justin Dougherty, Fox Carolina News: “If Republicans get control of Washington, [with] you in the White House, what’s your plan to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act?”

DeSantis: “Well, look, that was a big failure. Obviously, under the Trump administration, that was a core promise — it didn’t happen. You know, what we’re gonna do is we have this massive health care bureaucracy: pharmaceutical, government, insurance, all this stuff. It’s a total mess. We’re gonna have a comprehensive plan to lower people’s costs, and yes, Obamacare hasn’t done it, so we’ll transcend Obamacare, but I think you got to do a lot more than just that.”

DeSantis has a yearslong record of attacking the Affordable Care Act, and he voted to repeal the law with no replacement while he was in Congress.

DeSantis: “We must repeal ObamaCare … I have no desire to ‘improve’ or ‘reform’ ObamaCare. I intend to repeal it.” 

DeSantis: “Obamacare should never have been passed.”

DeSantis: “The full and complete repeal of ObamaCare is one of the most critical issues of our time.”

Tampa Bay Times: “When he was soliciting Republican votes in the GOP primary, the front page of DeSantis’ site highlighted how he ‘led efforts’ to ‘repeal ObamaCare.’”

May 2013: DeSantis voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

January 2016: DeSantis voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement plan.

May 2017: DeSantis voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and let states roll back requirements for coverage of essential health services and pave the way for higher premiums on those with preexisting conditions. 

HuffPost: “As a Republican serving in the U.S. House, [DeSantis] was part of a far-right caucus that voted against the first ACA repeal bill that leadership brought to the floor because, DeSantis and his allies said, it didn’t undo enough of the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. GOP leaders eventually put forward a more aggressive repeal. DeSantis and his colleagues voted yes on that one, but it failed in the Senate.” 

As governor, DeSantis has signed legislation that allowed health insurers to circumvent ACA requirements.

St. Augustine Record: “[DeSantis signed into law a measure that] would allow insurance companies to sell short-term health coverage — an approach backed by President Trump and leading Republicans in Congress as a workaround of the Affordable Care Act, which they oppose.”

DeSantis’s opposition to Medicaid expansion is preventing hundreds of thousands of people from getting affordable care as Floridians struggle with health care access and costs.

HuffPost: “Ron DeSantis Still Can’t Defend His Record On Health Care”

HuffPost: “While Ron DeSantis Is Fighting Culture Wars, Millions Of Floridians Are Losing Their Health Care”

Orlando Sentinel: “Florida is taking sick kids off Medicaid months before planned”

KFF: “If Florida were to expand its Medicaid program, 789,800 uninsured nonelderly adults would become eligible for coverage, 33% of the state’s uninsured nonelderly adult population.”

NBC News: “More than 400,000 Floridians have lost coverage since Covid-era protections ended in March, and more than half (55%) were unenrolled due to ‘procedural reasons,’ not because they were found ineligible, according to the health research nonprofit KFF.”

HuffPost: “DeSantis could do something about this. He has refused. In fact, as of this moment, his administration is embarking on a plan that some analysts worry could make the problem worse.”

HuffPost: “But [expanding Medicaid] has been a tough sell in Tallahassee, where Republicans have had nearly uninterrupted control of the Florida’s lawmaking process since 1999. Two previous efforts to get expansion through the state legislature failed. DeSantis’ spokesperson confirmed in 2021 that he remained opposed to it.”

Spectrum News 13: “Studies show Florida hospital bills rank among the highest in the nation”

WUSF: “Study finds employees in Florida pay among the highest rates for health insurance”

Trump has recently renewed his yearslong effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, telling MAGA Republicans they should “never give up” in their efforts to “terminate” the landmark legislation. 

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

The Messenger: “Former President Donald Trump said he is ‘seriously looking at alternatives’ to Obamacare in a new post on his social media platform Truth Social. He also called it a ‘low point for the Republican Party’ that lawmakers failed to ‘terminate’ the health insurance program established by the Affordable Care Act. According to the latest figures this year, more than 40 million Americans rely on the program for those who can’t afford private plans.”

Trump: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

Trump: “Obamacare is a disaster. And I said, ‘We’re gonna do something about it.’”