WASHINGTON -- New Jersey hospitals, insurers and lawmakers who opposed President Donald Trump's efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act decried his latest actions to gut the law, saying that cutting off payments to help low-income Americans afford insurance would raise rates and lead to people dropping their policies.

Their criticism was directed against Trump's announcement that he was ending what are known as "cost-sharing reduction" payments to insurance companies to cover deductibles and co-payments for low-income policyholders.

"President Trump's decision to end payments for cost-sharing reductions is a malicious and irresponsible act of sabotage that will harm millions of Americans across the country," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist., the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care.

The action will affect the 244,000 New Jersey residents who bought coverage through the health exchange as of February. More than half, 126,000, will get increased federal subsidies to cover higher premiums.

The others would face increases as high as $1,000 to $2,000, said Ray Castro, director of health policy for New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive research group.

"They won't have anywhere to turn, so many - probably the healthiest ones - will just drop this insurance," Castro said.

Trump called the payments "a subsidy for insurance companies" and said it would be "time to negotiate health care that's going to be good for everybody."

The Congressional Budget Office reported in August that eliminating the cost-sharing payments would raise premiums by 20 percent next year and 25 percent by 2020, and triggering higher subsidies that would increase the federal deficit by $194 billion over 10 years.

Concern over the cost-sharing payments was one of the reasons Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state's largest insurer, requested rate hikes averaging 22 percent next year.

"For 2018, the insurers filed rates under the assumption that the cost-sharing reduction subsidies would not be available," said Ward Sanders, president of the New Jersey Association of Health Plans, an industry group.

Sanders said the insurance carriers "will eat" the added cost for the remainder of this year.

These actions threatened to inject a new level of uncertainty at a time when Americans needing insurance needed to start signing up for next year.

Already, the Trump administration has reduced the enrollment period, announced the health care website would be shut down on several Sundays during that time, and slashed funding for navigators who help with enrollment.

New Jersey's federal funds for navigators was cut by 62 percent, a bigger reduction than 40 other states, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

"We know this is creating chaos for consumers in the market, but it's important for consumers to know the ACA is not imploding," said Maura Collinsgru, health care program director for New Jersey Citizen Action.

SABOTAGE! Trump’s ending ACA health care subsidies. Will jack up rates, further destabilize health care markets & cost all taxpayers more. — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) October 13, 2017

Trump's actions came after congressional Republicans failed to pass legislation that would leave as many as 32 million additional Americans without coverage.

He has claimed that the current health care law was failing, an assertion refuted by independent studies. The Kaiser Family Foundation said recent financial reports from insurance companies "show no sign of a market collapse."

He also issued an executive order expanding association-based health plans that could be sold across state lines and bare-bones temporary insurance that could siphon off younger, healthier policyholders, two steps that also could upend the existing law.

ObamaCare is a broken mess. Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017

"This onslaught of attacks on the Affordable Care Act will have grave impacts on those who count on the ACA for insurance, as well as the entire health insurance market," said Betsy Ryan, president and chief executive of the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Trump invited congressional Democrats to negotiate on health care. He would need at least eight Senate Democratic votes to pass legislation and overcome a filibuster.

"If the Democrats were smart, what they'd do is come and negotiate something where people could really get the kind of health care that they deserve, being citizens of our great country," Trump told reporters Friday.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., who recently met with Trump as co-chairman of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said he was ready to talk.

"After this latest in a series of executive actions meant exclusively to sabotage the ACA, it's a time for Democrats and Republicans to come together to improve health care," said Gottheimer, whose group already has proposed continuing the subsidies while making other adjustments to the law."

Rep. Leonard Lance, R-7th Dist., who bucked his party and opposed earlier repeal efforts, said the cost-sharing payments were unconstitutional and called on Congress to make them legal as part of a series of improvements to the existing law.

Now Congress must act & pass the #ProblemSolvers Caucus health care plan that I have endorsed. My full statement: https://t.co/7bxDkyjdgk — Rep. Leonard Lance (@RepLanceNJ7) October 13, 2017

America's Health Insurance Plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the American Medical Association, who opposed earlier Republican repeal efforts, were united again in criticizing Trump's latest action.

The AMA president, Dr. David O. Barbe, said the president was "further undermining the law and threatening access to meaningful health insurance coverage for millions of Americans."

"We urge Congress to accelerate its efforts to reinstate these payments before further damage is done," Barbe said.

State Sen. Nia Gill D-Essex, said the state could not afford to stand by and wait to see what Congress does. She appealed to Gov. Chris Christie -- a Trump confidante -- to take the federal government to court to block the executive actions.

"I am calling on the governor to join the coalition of states taking legal action against the federal government to protect against the removal of subsidies," Gill said. "New York, California, and other states have already committed to working to protect against the loss of care for their residents. New Jersey must also be on the front lines of this fight to defend our residents and their access to affordable quality care."

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.