“What we have is failing Iowans,” McCoy said at a Statehouse news conference.

He and Forbes said they hoped to persuade majority Republican legislators and the governor to consider their plan as a starting point for bipartisan negotiations.

But the idea was met with strong skepticism.

“The Democrats’ proposal is a sugar pill,” said Reynolds spokeswoman Brenna Smith. “It provides no relief for 22,000 suffering Iowans in 2018 and will likely cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Obamacare is suffocating states’ ability to innovate. It’s an unaffordable, unsustainable and unworkable law,” she added. “Congress has to do its job and repeal and replace Obamacare. Until power is returned to states, there will be no innovation and no affordable, high-quality health care.”

Reynolds’ opponent in June’s GOP gubernatorial primary election, Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, said it’s not good enough to just say Congress needs to fix this.

He called for a legislative special session yet this year to pass measures allowing Iowans facing spikes in their individual insurance costs to be covered by the same plan that insures the governor, lawmakers and state employees.