Inslee decries efforts to repeal federal health care law

ISSAQUAH, Wash. – Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says the Republican effort in the U.S. Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act is morally irresponsible.

Flanked by patients and health care workers in the lobby of a Swedish Medical Center, Inslee on Thursday called on Washington residents to ask their Congressional representatives to stop the repeal.

Inslee says repealing President Barack Obama’s signature health plan without providing an alternative is indefensible.

The governor’s office says 750,000 Washingtonians gained insurance after the ACA was enacted. Of that sum, about 600,000 are low-income and working-class residents.

The office also says the repeal would cost the state $330 million over two years to replace programs supplanted by the ACA.