WASHINGTON -- About 25 Ohioans staged a sit-in in U.S. Sen. Rob Portman's office Wednesday to demand more transparency, including hearings and town hall-style meetings, on the Senate effort to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The peaceful, 95-minute protest occurred after Portman's weekly constituent coffee, where they had short but mostly civil exchanges with the Ohio Republican. After the constituent meeting ended, they sat on the floor of the reception area in his office, shouting occasional chants -- "What do we want? Hearings. When do we want them? Now!"

Portman was at a Senate committee meeting during at least part of the protest, which did not appear to disrupt his schedule. Capitol police said they would make the protesters leave only if Portman's staff found them too disruptive. Portman's staff appeared to go about its business, with interns answering phones and offering protesters bottles of water and Ohio-made Dum-Dum candy suckers.

The protesters, who left after saying they had made their points, found little common ground with the senator.

Why did they come?

"We came here by bus and want to talk to you," Meryl Neiman, a volunteer leader with the activist group Indivisible, which helped organize the protest, told Portman at the coffee reception. "Will you commit to come back to Ohio and talk before the vote?"

Portman replied that he meets with the public all the time, and said he has had more than 75 meetings in which members of Indivisible were present.

Indivisible members shouted, "No," and said in interviews that the only way they can talk with Portman is to show up at events scheduled by others for purposes unrelated to the healthcare bill. Those include Portman meetings at private companies and a winter forum Portman attended at Ohio State University to discuss Ohio's opioid crisis. They said he has given them no other choice but to show up at his office.

They said they want to know Portman's position on whether essential health benefits now prescribed by the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, should continue. A Republican House of Representatives bill would let states make that decision.

What was their focus?

Protestors wanted to know whether Portman wanted mandatory maternity coverage, whether he would vote no or refuse to vote if the Senate bill is projected to remove coverage for millions of Americans. The Congressional Budget Office has said 23 million fewer Americans would ultimately lack coverage under the House bill.

The Senate has not uncloaked a bill GOP leaders worked on behind closed doors, although it is expected to be released Thursday, with a vote as soon as next week.

Portman says he would be concerned about a rapid loss of coverage for Medicaid patients and opioid addicts now getting care because of Obamacare. He has called for a "glide path" to ease them into some other form of coverage. Their potential loss of coverage by the year 2020 is among the reasons he opposes the House bill, called the American Health Care Act, Portman said.

Some of the Ohioans who came to Washington said they are not reassured.

"We've heard this multiple times," said Thomas Cartwright, a semi-retired financial professional from Columbus who has met with Portman four times. Portman issued statements of concern before the confirmation of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a major charter school and voucher proponent, and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who fought the EPA in court over clean air regulations when he was Oklahoma Attorney general, Cartwright said. But when the Senate Republican leaders call for a vote, "he votes for it."

Portman said he doesn't even know what will be in the healthcare bill. He has attended meetings of senators offering their opinions and trying to shape the bill but its ultimate content is up to GOP Senate leaders.

"You can stand up" and make your demands and concerns known, Neiman told him.

"I am," Portman said. "Every day."

"How many deaths are acceptable?" asked Janet Garrett, a retired teacher and Democrat who hopes to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan's reelection in 2018.

"None of them," Portman said.

What are the issues with health care?

Portman regularly calls Obamacare a disaster, noting insurance premium spikes for individuals and families who don't qualify for government subsidies. And he noted the planned exit from the Obamacare market by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which could leave 18 Ohio counties without an ACA insurer in 2018 unless other insurers fill the void.

The Ohioans in Portman's office Wednesday said he ignored the fact that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump have infused uncertainty for insurers. Insurers leaving the market, including Anthem, have said they don't even know if the government will make good on reimbursements it is supposed to make to them under the ACA.

"A lot of people are losing healthcare, and you're blaming that on Obamacare?" said Robbin Rogers, of Wooster. "That's just not true. That's a lie."

Ultimately, the goal of some protesters is to keep the Affordable Care Act and its patient and consumer protections intact. Several acknowledged that in interviews. But they also said they object to the way Republicans are going about their business.

Portman said he cannot commit to anything, including a vote of "yes" or "no," until he sees the bill. As for meeting with constituents to discuss their concerns, he said at the coffee, "This is a real meeting... I listen to constituents all the time, and I will continue to."

When told that the group wants a town hall meeting, Portman said, "We're having it right now."

That's not what the constituent coffee was, countered Janelle Henderson, of Columbus, who with the others later went to Portman's office to sit in. "He needs to have an open, public town hall where people can get real answers."