Trump meets with 'victims' of Obamacare, one from Louisville

President Trump talks about healthcare at Cincinnati Municipal
Lunken Airport on Wednesday. Dan Withrow and his family, of
Louisville, at right, met with Trump.(AP photo by Andrew Harnik)

President Donald Trump, during his June 7 visit to Cincinnati to talk about infrastructure, met with a Kentucky businessman to discuss how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act had harmed his business.

Trump said Dan Withrow, president of Louisville-based CSS Distribution Group, was one "of the many victims of the Obamacare catastrophe created by congressional Democrats."

A White House news release says Obamacare made it harder for Withrow's company, which distributes packaging materials, to afford health insurance for its employees because the plans became so costly.

"Before Obamacare, his 11 employees enjoyed multiple options for high quality, affordable health care," Trump said. "Then came Obamacare, and now they have fewer choices. Premiums are 150 percent higher. It's amazing. . . . And creating new jobs is no longer really an option for Dan because the health insurance is so expensive."

Many policies sold before Obamacare didn't comply with the standards it mandated. It requires all plans to offer 10 essential benefits, such as mental health care, prescription drug coverage and maternity and newborn care. Plans that don't cover such services typically have lower premiums.

Darla Carter of The Courier-Journal reports that Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher tweeted in response to Trump, "100% wrong, @realDonaldTrump. Numbers don’t lie. ACA is good for the health of Louisvillians AND good for jobs in our city."

Trump blamed Democrats for obstructing a new health plan, though Republicans control both chambers of Congress and could pass a health-care bill if they could agree on one. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a procedural move Wednesday to lay a fast track for a bill even though he hasn't said he has the votes to pass it. "McConnell is already racing to vote on repealing the healthcare law by the end of June," Politico reports.

Meanwhile, The Hill reported that McConnell has "proposed a shorter, three-year phase-out that would end [Medicaid expansion] in 2023," rather than 2020, as the House-passed bill would do.