Obamacare needs support, says Turkish PM Erdoğan

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Erdoğan says the separation of powers was holding back the US government.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced support for U.S. President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform, known as “Obamacare,” while simultaneously underlining his government has been acting with an understanding based on prioritizing the individual rather than the state. 

Obama has taken a step to reform the health service sector, but some circles have been standing in his way, said Erdoğan, who at the time described the separation of powers and “bureaucratic oligarchy” as the government’s main obstacle, saying it was preventing them from introducing “further services.”

“And here, actually, there is a need to support Mr. Obama, why isn’t this support being lent?,” Erdoğan questioned in an address delivered on Oct. 11 at a workshop held on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child.

“Because humanity is very important, not everyone can be rich, not everyone can find the opportunities of a social state, but with this law, the opportunities of a social state are provided,” he said, criticizing the idea that money made by some could not be spent on others, saying the state had the authority to spend the money in its treasury. 

Erdoğan’s remarks came as the federal government in the U.S. has remained shut down since Oct. 1, due to a deadlock between Republicans and Democrats over the federal budget.