Arise Citizens’ Policy Project policy director Jim Carnes issued the following statement Friday, Jan. 13, 2017, after the U.S. House approved a resolution that would make it easier for Congress to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act:

“Protecting access to quality, affordable health care is more important than ever. Congress voted this week to make it easier to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, but that wasn’t the end of this debate. Now comes the hard work of ensuring that tens of millions of Americans don’t lose their health coverage and important consumer protections in the process.

“The Affordable Care Act has helped millions of people and saved thousands of lives across Alabama. Nearly 200,000 Alabamians have gained insurance through the ACA, and the vast majority of them receive tax credits to make their coverage more affordable. About 2 million Alabamians have pre-existing conditions that would have made it hard or impossible for them to get full coverage before the ACA lifted coverage caps and guaranteed their access to insurance. And the ACA has significantly reduced the number of uninsured young Alabamians by allowing 35,000 of them to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26.

“We urge Alabamians to continue pressuring their members of Congress not to repeal the Affordable Care Act without an immediate replacement that offers comparable coverage and consumer protections. ‘Repeal and delay’ is a dangerous and unacceptable path.”