Mike Pence: Scrapping Obamacare will be 'first order of business'
Obamacare will be "repealed and replaced" as soon as Donald Trump takes office, according to his Vice President Mike Pence.
Dismantling Barack Obama's attempts at transforming the American healthcare system, known as the Affordable Care Act, will be Trump's "first order of business."
The 2010 statute, the biggest overhaul of the American health system since 1965, intended to increase affordability and expand insurance coverage.
But on Wednesday, Trump's team reiterated its campaign pledge to repeal the "failed" project.
Despite the number of uninsured Americans dropping significantly since the introduction of Obamacare, the Act looks set to go when billionaire Trump comes into office in 16 days time.
Speaking at a news conference, Trump's running-mate Pence maintained that the 70-year-old would come good on all of his campaign promises.
These included ending illegal immigration, building a border wall, investing in the military, and destroying so-called Islamic State, Pence said.
"But the first order of business is to repeal and replace Obamacare," he added.
The Indiana governor warned that it would be "business as usual" when Trump entered office.
"We're going to have that classic three-part agenda: jobs, jobs jobs.
"The focus is going to be from day one... to begin to roll back the onerous regulations that have been stifling growth in the American economy and stifling jobs and opportunities."
At the same conference, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Trump's administration would give "relief to Americans struggling under Obamacare."
"This law has failed. Americans are struggling. The law is failing while we speak," he said.
"We need to reverse the damage that has been done.
"Then, once we repeal this law, we need to make sure that there's a stable transition, to a truly patient-centred system."
Ryan said that Obamacare amounted to a monopoly, and that people paid a higher premium every year for no choice.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer warned that the first big fight in Congress when Trump came to power would be over health care.
The Democrat suggest that a Republican repeal of Obamacare would throw the entire insurance marketplace into chaos.
He urged Republicans to stop "clowning around" with health care, and argued that rural hospitals would be hit especially hard by any overthrow of the current system.