Iowa’s only Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives says he still doesn’t know the details of what Republicans will propose as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. Dave Loebsack is on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will vote on a replacement before sending it to the full House.
“So far what I have heard is that what they have offered is wholly inadequate and it doesn’t deal with the problems that we tried to deal with in the Obamacare legislation,” he says.
Loebsack says he has only seen an outline for the Republican proposal. He says he hopes his committee will get a more specific plan when congress reconvenes next week.
“They claim that they would like to keep some of the popular provisions of Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, like keeping your children until age 26 on your insurance, making sure that you can’t be discriminated against because of preexisting conditions," he says. " A lot of that remains unclear as far as what they will be proposing.”
Loebsack also says he has doubts about Republican proposals to expand health savings accounts. He says many people he meets don’t have money to put into such accounts.
Loebsack made his comments on IPR's River to River program
