U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack is a staunch opponent to Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

He tells KNIA/KRLS News the House Energy and Commerce committee spent more than a day debating the bill, which has cleared most required committees until it hits the general floor for debate.

“We debated that particular piece of legislation for 27 straight hours,” he says. “It was exhausting, but it was exhilarating, because there’s no question in my mind that what the Republicans are trying to do, not onty to repeal Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, but they are going to destroy Medicaid as we know it, they’re going to rip healthcare from millions of Americans, and tens of thousands of Iowans as a result of this.”

Instead of new legislation, Loebsack is calling for bipartisan measures to improve Obamacare as it stands now.

“I’m all for talking to folks on both sides of the aisle, about what we can do to make Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, better,” he says. “I voted for different changes to it in the past. We’ve got to do more for small businesses for example, so they can help provide health insurance for their folks.”

“But to take it away and replace it with something that’s so inferior is not the right way to go.”

On Monday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the Republican remodeling of health care will result in 14 million Americans either losing or dropping their health insurance by next year and an additional 10 million becoming uninsured by 2026. The CBO also reported the plan would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion over 10 years through cuts to Me dicare and Medicaid, as well as reducing tax credits, and increase premiums between 15 and 20 percent until 2020, after which they are forecast to decrease by 2026.