Boehner seeks cautious healthcare reform

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WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday Republicans want to tweak insurance regulations and reform medical malpractice laws.

Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," Boehner vowed to lead a GOP repeal of President Obama's reviled "Obamacare" legislation and replace it with "common sense" ideas he said would "lower healthcare costs and allow the American people to choose the health insurance they want, not the health insurance the government wants them to have."

Boehner said Obamacare failed to include worthwhile ideas that would help reduce the overall cost of insurance coverage.

"Why wouldn't we allow small businesses to group together for the purchases of buying health insurance?" Boehner asked. "Why wouldn't we deal with one of the big cost drivers in healthcare, and that is medical malpractice reform?"

The speaker said he accepts a provision to keep young adults on their parents' policies and would like to see a way for people with pre-existing conditions to access "affordable" healthcare.

On the other hand, he said, Obamacare is too big and complex to stand as a single entity. He told CBS he would prefer to see the entire law overturned so Congress, preferably dominated by Republicans, could take a step-by-step approach.

"We believe our (plan) will work just as well at much less cost to the American people," Boehner said.