Nevada leaders want Heller to explain how key parts of ACA will be replaced if measure is repealed

CARSON CITY — The top two Democrats in the Nevada Legislature are calling on U.S. Sen. Dean Heller to explain how Republicans in Congress will replace key provisions of the Affordable Care Act if they repeal it.

State Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford and Assembly Speaker-Designate Jason Frierson, both of Las Vegas, sent a letter Tuesday posing five questions to Nevada’s senior senator in Congress.

Among other things, the state leaders asked what steps will be taken to ensure people who purchased coverage through the state exchange and those who receive federal tax credits will still be able to buy affordable insurance.

Additionally, they ask what will be done to ensure more than 217,000 Nevadans receiving coverage under expanded Medicaid eligibility will remain covered; guarantees for women’s health care; and continued mandates to cover people with pre-existing conditions and allow parents to keep children on their policies until age 26.

“We hope you will use your position as Nevada’s senior United State Senator and a member of the majority party to protect the thousands of Nevada families who are now at risk of losing their health insurance,” the state lawmakers wrote.

“We also hope you will take steps to ensure that our state does not bear any unfair and unnecessary costs of caring for people who stand to lose that coverage in the near future.”

The letter follows a report released last week by an independent think tank, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which said if the law is repealed 370,000 Nevadans would lose health insurance by 2019, and the number of uninsured in Nevada would jump to more than 760,000.

Heller has said he anticipates any GOP plan to replace President Barack Obama’s signature health care law would cover just as many people in the immediate future.

“I would anticipate nobody’s going to lose their health care for the next two or three years until the replacement is put in place,” Heller said, as recently reported by Bloomberg. “I think that’s pretty fair.”

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3821. Follow @SandraChereb on Twitter.