Kasich says getting rid of ObamaCare entirely is 'not acceptable'

John Kasich on CBS
(Image credit: CNN/Screenshot)

The impulse of some conservative House Republicans "to say just get rid of the whole thing" in the ObamaCare reform process is "not acceptable," Ohio Gov. John Kasich argued during an appearance on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday. "Republicans have to reach out to some of the Democrats" in Congress if they are to craft a new health care program "that still provides coverage to people," the former Republican presidential candidate told host John Dickerson.

"You have 20 million people, or 700,000 people in my state" whose health coverage is now provided through the Affordable Care Act, Kasich said. "Where do the mentally ill go? Where do the drug addicted go?" Kasich conceded reforms are needed to make the system functional and affordable, but, he added, "we're just not going to pull the rug out from under people." Watch his comments in context below, and see this analysis from The Week's Ryan Cooper on how Kasich's fears could come true. Bonnie Kristian

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.