Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook would not say Tuesday whether the Democratic nominee agreed with husband Bill Clinton’s reference to Obamacare as a "crazy system," dodging a question about it on CBS This Morning.
Bill Clinton ripped the insurance system during a campaign stop in Michigan on Monday, saying it was "the craziest thing in the world" and does not work in the state.
Former President Bill Clinton slammed the Obamacare insurance model during a Monday rally in Saginaw, Michigan, calling the law "the craziest thing in the world" and saying that it is harming small businesses.
"You’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people that are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half," Clinton said.
"It’s the craziest thing in the world," Clinton added later.
CBS host Charlie Rose made a passing reference to the comments and asked what Hillary Clinton would do to change the Affordable Care Act. Mook said more needed to be done to lower premiums and the price of prescription drugs.
Fellow host Norah O’Donnell was more direct, asking Mook bluntly if Hillary Clinton agreed with the "crazy system" remarks.
Mook did not answer the question, instead trying to assess what he thought the former president meant with his comments.
"Well, what he was referring to was the healthcare system, both as it used to be and then sometimes what happens in some of these markets, you know, where basically the marketplace skews the cost," Mook said. "This is exactly why we’ve got to do something about premium increases, but I assume also he was including in that prescription drug prices."
Before Mook could continue, O’Donnell cut in to ask him about the latest polling news.
Full exchange:
CHARLIE ROSE: Robby, how would Secretary Clinton, if she becomes president, change the Affordable Care Act? Because, as you know, former President Clinton had something to say about it yesterday in terms of people that were not exactly coming out as well as they thought they might?
ROBBY MOOK: Well, I, uh—I’m sorry, I thought you were going to play a clip there. I’m really glad you asked that question. Because—
ROSE: I would if I had one.
MOOK: OK. That’s a really important question, because this is an issue that affects a lot of voters. Look, the important thing is that 20 million Americans have health insurance today because of the Affordable Care Act. It’s made a tremendous difference in a lot of people’s lives, but we need to do more to lower premiums and in particular, the price of prescription drugs is rising way too fast. We’ve seen these companies abusing their patents to jack up costs for live-saving cancer drugs, so Secretary Clinton and Senator Kaine have a plan to get those drug prices down, make sure families can afford them, and finally do something about these premium increases.
NORAH O'DONNELL: But does Secretary Clinton agree with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, that Obamacare is a quote, crazy system that hurts small businesses?
MOOK: Well, what he was referring to was the healthcare system, both as it used to be and then sometimes what happens in some of these markets, you know, where basically the marketplace skews the cost. This is exactly why we’ve got to do something about premium increases, but I assume also he was including in that prescription drug prices.