yes, because it happens to be one of the strongest assets. reporter: but the republican bill allows states to opt out so insurance companies could charge some people with pre-existing conditions more. it would give states $8 billion over 5 years to help cover those people. but hundreds of leading patient and health groups call that a drop in the bucket. the bill would also allow states to opt out of requiring insurance companies to cover some so-called essential health benefits, like maternity care and even ambulances. experts say less coverage could mean lower premiums for many people. is this now trumpcare? this isn t trumpcare. this is an ability to give people the choice to pick their own care. i think that s what s most important. reporter: but with the midterm elections fast pretty approaching, democrats are eager to make sure republicans own this, and that americans know who is in this picture. but you had every provision of this bill tattooed on your forehead. you
tru trumare means higher cost and less coverage. trumpcare is a tax break for the rich and not health care motivation. it s to take people whose income is above $250,000 and give them an average tax break, to take the top .01% and give them a tax break of $200,000 while making these people pay more. it horrible. president trump has talked about helping working america, but the plan he has embraced, trumpcare, helps the rich and hurts the average american, and that s not surprising given all the other things his administration is doing. his administration has developed a pattern, health care is part of that. they talk like populists but act like those helping wealthy special interests time after time after time.
that is senator angus king. we are listening to him speak at a news conference along with senate minority leader chuck schumer as well. senator schumer attempting to frame the new house republican bill to repeal and replace the affordable care act as trumpcare. let s go to chris jansing at the white house. we know the president has been meeting with skeptical republicans about this and offering compromises on things like, for example, pulling back medicaid expansion to 2018 to freezing of it rather. do you think this is a successful strategy? what s the white house s plans next? i just talk to a senior aide who told me they think they are making some progress but also acknowledged to me that there are, and this is a quote, some substantive and fill sop caphil issues they are not going to be able to bridge the divide on. come on guys, this is the
look, no one likes this bill. hospitals, doctors, governors, conservatives, liberals, nonpartisan groups and most of all the people who will no longer have affordable health care. so we democrats are here today to tell our republican friends turn back, drop this irresponsible plan, stop this effort to repeal and we ll work with you to improve the affordable care act, but trumpcare is a loser for just about all of america, unless you re in the top 1%. now i m going to turn it over to senator king because he has to go to a hearing. thank you. i thought a lot about how to characterize it. by the way, it s not only democrats, it s independents, too, chuck. thank you, angus. a way to characterize this bill because we ve heard it being discussed so much in the last few days.
political point because the white house is creating the distance between the president and this bill. as much as they re all embracing, we re all for one, going together, the reality is the white house is calling this through breitbart is calling this ryan care. this isn t trumpcare. when you hear kellyanne conway go on air and talk about who would ever want to tie the president s name to a health care bill? i m like, dude, you just did that for the last six years. that s the reality. they understand the impact it can have if this goes south and pt president s name is on it. michael steele, what do you think of our view? it s great. it hot and sexy. you re leaving now. reportedly linked to russian intelligence, a co atowardi intelligence, according to what politico says.