Woman grills Republican senator over Obamacare repeal: 'My husband's dying. What kind of insurance do you have?'

'We're going Medicare my way, not your way,' constituent tells Senator Tom Cotton

A woman interrogated a Republican senator over his party's support for repealing the Affordable Care Act after telling him she currently pays just $29 (£23) a month on care for her dying husband.

One of President Donald Trump's first actions in the Oval Office was to sign an executive order beginning the dismantling of the act, known as Obamacare, which insures some 30 million Americans. It is the administration's policy to "repeal and replace" it.

Video of a town hall event in Arkansas shows the woman, her voice choked with emotion, demanding that Sen Tom Cotton explain how he will better her current coverage. She said: "My husband with dementia, Alzheimer's, plus multiple other things, and you want to stand there, with him at home, expect us to be calm, cool, collected. What kind of insurance do you have?"

She added: "We're going Medicare my way, not your way, my way. I've got a husband dying, and we can't afford—let me tell you something—if you can get us better coverage than this, go for it.

"We have $29 per month for my husband. Can you beat that? $29 a month, and he's a hard worker. $39 for me. I have sent you one message after the other, sir, about our family."

Mr Cotton said: "I'll be happy to meet with you and hear more about your story."

Mr Cotton has said his party needs to come up with an alternative to Obamacare before repealing it. He told CNN last month: "I don't think we can just repeal Obamacare and say we're going to get the answer two years from now. This is a very complicated problem."

Separate footage of the event showed a large proportion of attendees rising to their feet when another woman asked anyone affected by the Affordable Care Act to stand up. Police in Arkansas said there were 2,000 people at the debate in Springdale High School, according to CNN.