Indian American Seema Verma, the key architect of the new healthcare bill, shared the podium with President Donald Trump who hailed her contribution in convincing several lawmakers on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare.
In her capacity as administrator of the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Verma made innumerable trips to the Capitol Hill and many times accompanied Vice President Mike Pence convincing top American lawmakers of the need to fix the current healthcare system by repealing the existing Obamacare and replacing it with a new health care bill.
Considered to be one of the key architects of the new healthcare bill, Verma was the only non-politician to be asked to speak from the podium at the Rose Garden as Trump rejoiced over passage of the legislation by the House of Representatives that repealed Obamacare and replaced it with a new bill.
“Thank you, and congratulations to the president, the vice president, the speaker and all the Republican leadership and all the Republicans in the House, for what you did today,” she said.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of moms across the country like me, and they are so concerned about the rising cost of healthcare, paying for expensive premiums and high deductibles, having an insurance card that they can’t use because it’s still unaffordable,” Verma said.
“What happened here today was an important step towards addressing that problem. And for the Medicaid program, I’ve been working in the Medicaid program for over 20 years. The Medicaid program is for our aged, our blind, pregnant moms, kids, disabled and the poor,” she said.
“These are people that have no other place to go but the Medicaid program and the status quo in the Medicaid program is not acceptable. We can do better. And the big step that was taken today is a very important stride towards making that program work better, towards giving governors the flexibility to design programs that are innovative and actually improve health outcomes,” Verma said.
“I’m so excited about this big step forward and I think it’s a great day for our country. So thank you for everybody that was involved in this,” she said in her brief remarks.
Both Trump and Pence have hailed Verma for the important role she has played in the new healthcare plan.
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