US President-Elect Donald Trump likes Obamacare clauses 'very much'

US President-elect Donald Trump has said in an interview he is open to leaving intact key parts of President Barack Obama's healthcare bill.

Mr Trump, who has pledged repeatedly to repeal the 2010 law, signalled he was receptive to a compromise after visiting the White House on Thursday.

He told the Wall Street Journal he favours keeping two main parts of the bill because "I like those very much".

One is a ban on insurers denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

The other provision that the president-elect told the newspaper he favours allows children to be insured on their parents' policies.

Mr Trump told the Journal it was his hour-and-a-half meeting with Mr Obama that had made him reconsider his calls for an all-out repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

"I told him I will look at his suggestions, and out of respect, I will do that," the president-elect said at Trump Tower.

"Either Obamacare will be amended, or repealed and replaced."

Mr Trump's about-face comes amid a surge in applications to join the plan from Americans possibly fearful it is about to be overturned.

More than 100,000 applicants snapped up Obamacare health insurance on the day after Tuesday's election, this year's biggest sign-up, the Obama administration announced.