King County executive: Repealing Obamacare is based on emotion

In one of the first acts as president, Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin dismantling the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare.”

Related: People ‘too upset to speak’ after Trump sworn in

King County Executive Dow Constantine warns repealing the Affordable Care Act means about 200,000 people in the county will lose their health insurance.

“It was a move that was based on emotion, not on evidence, not on thinking of the consequences,” he said.

King County’s Health Director Patty Hayes told KIRO 7 the Affordable Care Act pays for the childhood vaccines sent to doctors’ offices.

“You’re looking at the loss of a major portion of the immunization program that covers all children in this country,” she said.

Those include the vaccinations that local health departments are pushing in light of the mumps outbreak.

Late last year, Democratic governors, including Gov. Jay Inslee, warned top Republicans in Congress that repealing the Affordable Care Act would leave states with billions in costs for providing medical treatment to uninsured residents. Governors estimated that states could face about $69 billion in costs for uncompensated care over the next 10 years if Obama’s health law is repealed.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act added coverage for about 20 million people through a combination of subsidized private health insurance and a state option to expand Medicaid.

In Washington, about 750,000 residents gained insurance after the health law was enacted, according to the governor’s office. Of those, about 600,000 are low-income.

The office also says repealing Obamacare would cost the state $330 million over two years to replace programs supplanted by the law, the Associated Press reports.

It could take several years to replace the health care law. The Associated Press reports it is unclear what replacing the law would involve, but “presumably some of the law’s popular provisions — such as subsidies and protection for those with pre-existing medical conditions — would be kept in place.”

On Sunday, the Trump administration said it would provide federal money via block grants to help people on Medicaid get health care.

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