MONTPELIER - Republican leaders in Vermont oppose the national Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, they announced Monday in an unusual display of unity with Democrats and the state's congressional delegation.

Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, hosted the event at the Statehouse in Montpelier alongside state lawmakers, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Scott said the cuts to Medicaid funding in the Republican health care bill would force Vermont to cut health care services or raise taxes.

"The consequences for Vermonters would be severe," Scott said.

More:Sanders focuses on fighting Republican health bill

Scott mulls options to change VT Health Connect

More than 200,000 Vermonters receive some type of help from Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans that is funded by a combination of federal and state money. About 68 percent of Vermonters in treatment for opioid addiction are Medicaid recipients, Leahy said.

Republicans in Congress are considering rolling back provisions in the Affordable Care Act that made more people eligible for Medicaid, and restructuring the whole program to limit the amount of funding that states receive.

"If you're going to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the Medicaid program, the states are going to have to limit coverage," Leahy said. "There goes the flexibility that's supposed to be in Medicaid. Instead, it would force our states and all the other states to ration care."

Senate Minority Leader Dustin Degree, R-Franklin, and House Minority Leader Don Turner, R-Milton, also flagged the Medicaid cuts.

"Medicaid expansion over the last 10 years, and even prior to the ACA, created a precedent we cannot repeal overnight without a plan in place to mitigate any adverse fiscal impacts on the state and on Vermonters," Turner said.

Degree said he was frustrated with rising health care costs, but opposed the Republican health care bill.

"I do not think that the cuts envisioned in the federal health care bill will stop people from getting sick and requiring services, nor do I think it will help Vermonters afford those expenses they've incurred," Degree said.

Sanders called the health care bill "the most dangerous and destructive piece of legislation ever brought before the United States Senate in the modern history of this country." Vermont House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, a Democrat from South Hero, called it "morally bankrupt" and "idiotic."

The event was painstakingly bipartisan as participants avoided discussing areas of controversy or disagreement.

When Sanders mentioned that he wants to create a single-payer health care system for all Americans, reporter Paul Heintz of Seven Days asked Scott whether he supported the same measures. Scott declined to answer directly and said he only wanted people "get together" to discuss the issues. Welch volunteered to deflect the question.

"Let me answer this," Welch said, arguing that the discussion about Sanders' ideas would take place at the federal level.

"I didn't mean to put the governor on the spot," Sanders said later, drawing laughter.

When the same reporter asked Sanders about the financial questions surrounding his wife's leadership at Burlington College, Sanders groaned, and Scott stepped up to the microphone.

"Maybe we could save that for another time," Scott said. "How about Medicaid?"

At the close of the news conference, Welch placed his hand on Scott's shoulder and praised his willingness to speak.

"We've got to have Republican partners in this," Welch said. "We can't have a health care 'reform' that starts with taking health care away from 22 million Americans. And there are Republicans in the House who share Gov. Scott's point of view."

A vote on the health care bill originally planned for this week has been delayed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced the delay Saturday to allow Sen. John McCain to recover from surgery.

Contact April McCullum at 802-660-1863 or amccullum@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @April_McCullum.

Do you have a breaking news tip? Call us at 802-660-6500 or send us a post on Facebook or Twitter using #BFPTips.