Mitt Romney's comment that he would retain certain provisions of the Obama administration's healthcare reform law if elected shows he's on the “defensive,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Monday.
"They're trying to pick out pieces of ‘ObamaCare’ that they like. This selective approach, one from column A and one from column B, doesn't make for much of a campaign, but I think they're on the defensive," Durbin said on CBS's "This Morning.”
The Illinois senator’s comments come a day after the Republican presidential nominee said there were elements of President Obama’s signature healthcare law he supported.
“I'm not getting rid of all of healthcare reform,” said Romney in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired on Sunday. “Of course, there are a number of things that I like in healthcare reform that I'm going to put in place.”
Romney has repeatedly vowed to have the health law repealed if he is elected president.
On Sunday, though, he said he wanted to replace the law with a plan that would ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions get coverage. He also said he wanted to keep the provision that allowed younger Americans to stay on their parents' health insurance plan.
The Obama health law already prevents insurers from denying coverage to those with a pre-existing condition and allows young Americans to stay on their parents' plans until they are 26.
"I say we're going to replace ObamaCare. And I'm replacing it with my own plan," Romney said. "And even in Massachusetts when I was governor, our plan there deals with pre-existing conditions and with young people."
The Obama campaign has cited the Massachusetts healthcare law enacted by Romney as governor as the basis for the president’s own law.
Romney, though, has defended the Massachusetts law, saying it was the best course for his state but should not have been implemented at the federal level.
