Trump administration shifts away from ‘insurance for everybody’

The White House shifted away from President Trump’s stated goal of providing “insurance for everybody” on Tuesday, instead promising that the House GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare offers “more people the option to get healthcare.”

The altered tone from Press Secretary Sean Spicer comes as the bill faces new scrutiny, including a report Monday from the independent Congressional Budget Office concluding that 24 million fewer people will have insurance by 2026 under the GOP plan.

Spicer took issue with that analysis, in part by insisting that it failed to take into account separate actions Republicans say they plan to take after their initial bill.

Spicer called the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare the first of three prongs in the administration’s strategy, but he declined to specify what actions will take place in the next two prongs, referring questions to House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Democrats and some Republicans have cast doubt on whether Congress can pass a second bill (the proposed third prong, after the first bill would become law and the regulations to enforce it would be enacted), given that doing so would require support from Democrats.

Even as the administration has often deferred to Ryan and has declined to label the proposed bill as “Trumpcare,” Spicer said Trump is proud of the bill.