US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Oct 16 in Washington, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left), and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis (right), listen. (AP)

WASHINGTON, Oct 17, (RTRS): US President Donald Trump on Monday declared Obamacare “dead” and “gone,” but urged Republicans and Democrats in Congress to craft a short-term fix of healthcare markets under the 7-year-old law that critics say he has effectively sabotaged. “It’s dead. It’s gone. It’s no longer — you shouldn’t even mention. It’s gone,” Trump said of former Democratic president Barack Obama’s signature 2010 healthcare law that Republicans have repeatedly tried and failed to repeal. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said: “I think we’ll have a short-term fix withRepublicans and Democrats getting together.” Trump also said he would work to lower prescription drug prices, which he said were “out of control.” He did not provide details. Last week, the Republican president said he would stop Obamacare’s federal subsidy payments to insurers, which are designed to help lower-income people afford health insurance. Trump said that in stopping the subsidies, he was cutting off the “gravy train” for insurers. But Democrats and some Republicans said Trump’s move to cancel the payments would hurt poor and middle-class people and cause premiums to soar.