After making a name for himself by calling for the repeal of the so-called Affordable Care Act (ACA), U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is signing his family up for Obamacare.
During an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Tuesday, Cruz revealed that he plans to forego other private insurance options and shop for insurance on the Obama administration constructed health care exchange.
Previously, Cruz and his family had purchased insurance through his wife Heidi Cruz’s employer, Goldman Sachs. After Sen. Cruz announced that he is running for President of the United States in 2016, Mrs. Cruz took an unpaid leave of absence from Goldman Sachs’ Houston office, where she is a managing director, giving up her position’s healthcare benefits.
In 2013, Sen. Cruz led efforts to defund the ACA, which resulted in a federal government shutdown. The movement by the young Senator to defund the ACA failed, and now he himself will choose to use it, though he saw no irony in the development.
“I believe we should follow the text of every law, even laws I disagree with,” he told CNN.
Cruz’s campaign later told CNN that the senator and presidential candidate will not accept a government contribution healthcare cost subsidy that lawmakers and their staff are eligible for, under the ACA.
Local
With a straight face, Cruz went on to blast the ACA and promise to repeal it, even as he uses it. “What is problematic about Obamacare is that it is killing millions of jobs in the country and has killed millions of jobs,” he claimed.
“It has forced millions of people into part time work. It has caused millions of people to lose their insurance, to lose their doctors and to face skyrocketing insurance premiums. That is unacceptable.”
But, you know, in the meantime, Sen. Cruz is, like, totally going to use Obamacare.
