Repeal and replace the ACA? Not so fast, Mr. Trump.

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In his news conference last Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump said that he wants to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act quickly and simultaneously.

Even without a new president, Congress last week passed measures that began chipping away at the health care act. It would allow follow-up legislation to sidestep the threat of a filibuster by Democrats in the Senate and House. Congress will now begin to work on a reconciliation bill that provides the budget framework necessary to repeal and replace Obamacare.

We say not so fast.

The ACA, which President Obama signed into law in 2010, has provided 20 million Americans, the majority of whom couldn’t afford coverage before, with health insurance. To repeal the law that has given a record number of people access to quality health care without an effective replacement would be reckless, and would have serious consequences.

From 2000 to 2010, per-enrollee Medicaid spending rose by an average of 3.6 percent every year, while private insurance per-enrollee spending jumped by an average of 5 percent annually. In 2015, the figures were 1.3 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, under the ACA, according to the White House.

Obamacare was attacked by Republicans from the get-go, and now is under an all-out assault for repeal by the GOP, empowered by the incoming president.

Repealing the law without an adequate replacement, however, could have a devastating impact on Long Islanders, and even Peter King, the longtime Republican congressman who represents the 2nd District, which includes a portion of the Town of Hempstead, has said that dismantling the ACA should be done cautiously.

“We have to have more plans available and give people more choices as far as the type of coverage they want,” King said, “but at the same time, we cannot be cutting off people who currently have coverage through Obamacare.”

Thanks to the ACA, the number of New Yorkers without health insurance has been halved, from 10 to 5 percent — 939,000 state residents gained coverage. According to figures released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, more than 2.7 million New Yorkers would lose their coverage, more than 133,000 of them in Nassau County and nearly 153,000 in Suffolk, if Obamacare were repealed. Nearly $600 million of federal funding that goes directly to the state’s 62 counties could be lost — money that helps reduce property taxes, Cuomo said. And Nassau would lose more than $17.86 million in Medicaid funding.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks called the possible loss of more than $400 million for St. John’s Episcopal Hospital and Jamaica Hospital over the next decade “grave consequences” of immediately repealing the ACA. That money provides care for Medicaid and Medicare recipients.

St. John’s officials contend that if Obamacare is repealed with no plan to take its place, the impact on hospitals would likely be grave, with many fewer people able to pay hospital bills, especially for facilities like St. John’s that serve high-need populations, with many Medicaid users.

According to a study conducted by researchers at The George Washington University, repealing the ACA would result in the loss of 131,000 jobs in the private and public sectors in New York state.

“The law isn’t perfect,” said U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Democrat from Garden City, but “the responsible thing to do is for both parties in Congress to work together to improve it.”

Obamacare isn’t an erector set that can be dismantled and easily reconfigured. Taking pieces away, or moving them around, could wreak havoc on people’s lives. Clarity of thought and meaningful ideas are needed.

Republicans calling for its repeal and replacement have yet to agree on how to do that. We urge Congress and the new president to be deliberate in the changes they implement. And we encourage everyone to contact their federal representatives and voice their opinions.

Make your voice heard

Call your congressional representatives and tell them they must not repeal the Affordable Care Act without a plan for a better program that would ensure that the 20 million-plus Americans who now enjoy high-quality health care through Obamacare continue to receive it.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D)
757 Third Ave., Suite 1702
New York, N.Y. 10017
(212) 486-4430
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6542
www.schumer.senate.gov

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D)
780 Third Ave., Suite 2601
New York, N.Y. 10017
(212) 688-6262
478 Russell Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4451
www.gillibrand.senate.gov

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D)
200 Garden City Plaza, Suite 200
Garden City, N.Y. 11530
(516) 739-3008
1508 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5516
www.kathleenrice.house.gov

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D)
67-12 Rockaway Beach Blvd.
Averne, N.Y. 11692
(347) 230-4032
2234 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-3461
www.meeks.house.gov

Rep. Peter King (R)
1003 Park Blvd.
Massapequa Park, NY 11762
(516) 541-4225
339 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-7896
www.peteking.house.gov