Congressman Steve King.
Iowa’s congressional delegation is part of the drama over whether enough Republicans will vote for House leadership’s plan to replace President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Iowa is represented by four congressmen. Three of them will vote no on the bill. Democrat Dave Loebsack of Iowa City has been a firm “no” on the bill since it was publicly revealed.
Yesterday, Republican Congressman Rod Blum of Dubuque announced he could not vote for the Republican plan. Blum tweeted that the bill does not do enough to lower insurance premiums.
Today, Congressman David Young of Van Meter called the plan a “good start,” but said it “does not yet get it right.” And then on Wednesday afternoon, the White House announced Republican Congressman Steve King of Kiron had been convinced by the president during a meeting in the White House to vote for the bill.
King posted a video on Facebook about his meeting in the Oval Office.
“In the end, we have the best chance to get a package that is the closest thing to a full repeal that we can get within this political environment,” King said at about the 10 minute mark of the 12 minute video.
King said he was confident President Trump would use his “bully pulpit” to get other reforms through, like separate legislation that would allow health insurance to be sold across state lines.