Mitt Romney says he likes parts of 'Obamacare'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who promised early in his campaign to repeal President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, says he would keep several important parts of the overhaul.

"Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place," he said in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." ''One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage."

Romney also said he would allow young adults to keep their coverage under their parents' health-insurance.

Those provisions have been two of the more popular parts of Obama's Affordable Care Act.

"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."

In the interview, Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, also said he would offset his proposed tax cuts by closing loopholes for high income taxpayers.

"We're not going to have high-income people pay less of the tax burden than they pay today. That's not what's going to happen," he said.

When pressed, however, Romney declined to provide an example of a loophole he would close.

"I can tell you that people at the high end, high-income taxpayers, are going to have fewer deductions and exemptions. Those numbers are going to come down. Otherwise they'd get a tax break. And I want to make sure people understand, despite what the Democrats said at their convention, I am not reducing taxes on high-income taxpayers," Romney said.

Romney also defended his decision to say nothing about the war in Afghanistan or the U.S. troops serving there during his acceptance speech last month at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

He said that he'd been to Afghanistan and the troops "know of my commitment."

"I have some differences on policy with the president. I happen to think those are more important than what word I mention in each speech," he said.