At health-care town hall, Tom Price says the current system is 'failing many, many people'

Tom Price.
(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price fielded tough questions from a cancer survivor, a stay-at-home dad, a family physician, and others during a CNN Health Care Town Hall on Wednesday night.

Price, a longtime opponent of ObamaCare, said the goals of TrumpCare are to "make certain that every single American has coverage" and that everyone "ought to be able to select the kind of coverage that you need for yourself." He was asked by Dr. Mitch Jacques, a family physician, if members of Congress truly understand the hardship that patients will face if they lose their health insurance. "We believe strongly that the current system is failing many, many people," Price responded. "There are 20 million folks in this country right now, 20 million individuals, who have told the federal government in spite of the mandate, in spite of the penalty, nonsense, don't throw me into that thing. I either can't afford it or I'm not interested."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.