Letter: Seek alternatives before repealing ACA

As a first priority when he takes office, president-elect Donald Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

But as a Nov. 10 article in The Gazette points out ('Obamacare's future in critical condition”), the well-respected Congressional Budget Office states that repealing the law would cause the deficit to grow by $353 billion over the next decade. Is this what Trump wants?

Further, repealing the ACA would result in 24 million people losing their health insurance.

The ACA has allowed these people to keep their adult children on health care, and has provided those 24 million with the health care coverage they need to minimize such things as very expensive visits to emergency rooms in hospitals.

If Republicans are intent on repealing the ACA, they have a moral obligation to provide a comprehensive, affordable, alternative health care plan for those citizens.

Frank Olsen

Cedar Rapids