Former HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, claims remarks he made about the dangers of repealing the ACA's individual mandate were taken out of context, and he believes repealing the mandate was beneficial, according to Politico.
Though Dr. Price told the World Health Congress that repealing the individual mandate would "drive up the cost" of insurance by taking away healthy customers from the market, he backtracked from those comments in a statement through the Job Creators Network, where he is a healthcare fellow.
"Repealing the individual mandate was exactly the right thing to do. Forcing Americans to buy something they don't want undermines individual liberty as well as free markets," said Dr. Price, according to Politico. "The only fair and effective way to bring down healthcare costs is to allow markets to create more choices for consumers and small businesses."