Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton talked — briefly — about Medicare, Social Security and the Affordable Care Act last night during the third and final 2016 presidential debate.
The candidates met in Las Vegas, in a session moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.
Organizers said Wallace would ask the candidates about the federal budget deficit, and about federal "entitlement" programs — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and a few other big social welfare programs.
The candidates spent most of the night talking about international trade, other foreign policy topics, abortion and each other.
Toward the end of the night, Wallace said the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has concluded that neither Clinton nor Trump has a serious plan to keep Medicare solvent. He asked the candidates whether they would agree to a "grand bargain," or a combination of tax increases and benefits cuts, to keep Medicare and Social Security solvent.
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What they said
Trump said he would save the entitlement programs by cutting taxes and growing the economy. Economic growth will improve entitlement program solvency, he said.
"And one thing we have to do is repeal and replace the disaster known as Obamacare," Trump said. "It's destroying our country, it's destroying our businesses … . If we don't repeal and replace it, it's probably going to die of its own weight. But Obamacare has to go."
ACA premiums are going up from 60 percent to 80 percent this year, and more than 100 percent next year, Trump said.