Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Thursday that it would be a mistake for congressional Republicans to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan in place.
“I think when we repeal Obamacare we need to have the solution in place moving forward,” he said on MSNBC’s “Meet The Press.” “Again, the solution may be implemented in a deliberate fashion but I don’t think we can repeal Obamacare and say we’ll get the answer two years from now.”
A growing number of Republican lawmakers are voicing concerns with their party’s plan to immediately move to repeal some aspects of the healthcare law while leaving others in place until 2019. The GOP has yet to put forth a comprehensive replacement plan for Obamacare, though they have campaigned against the legislation since it passed in 2010.
Asked by MSNBC host Chuck Todd if he would vote for replacement without “something concrete in place that people can see,” Cotton said repeal and replacement must go hand in hand, even if some aspects of the Republican plan wouldn’t go into effect until years down the line.
“Health care is a very complex issue,” the Arkansas Republican said. “We haven’t coalesced around a solution in six years in part because it is so complicated. Kicking the can down the road for a year or two years is not going to make it any easier to solve.”
