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U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, says she likely won't support a Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare because Upstate New York would be disproportionately affected by the changes.

(Mark Weiner | mweiner@syracuse.com)

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican who campaigned against the Affordable Care Act, said today she's not ready to repeal the law because its GOP replacement is bad for New York.

Tenney, R-New Hartford, said the American Health Care Act proposed by House Republicans needs to be amended in a way that eases the phase-out of federal subsidies and cuts to Medicaid.

The first-term congresswoman said she was disappointed that an analysis of the GOP plan by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded older people will pay substantially more for their health insurance than younger Americans.

Health insurance premiums would rise 15 to 20 percent in the first year, the CBO said, and an additional 24 million Americans would be without health insurance in 10 years.

"Just looking at what the CBO report came out with, and some of the issues in New York, I'm leaning toward voting no," Tenney told Syracuse.com.

Tenney said she and other New York Republicans will fight to amend the Republican bill and make sure the health insurance marketplace can adapt in a way that is predictable for consumers and the insurance industry.

"We have to repeal Obamacare at some point," Tenney said. "I'm for repeal, but right now I don't think this bill solves the problem as it is."

Many of the nine House Republicans from New York share her concern, Tenney said, and could act as a voting block to push for changes to the bill.

Rep. John Katko, R-Camillus, who also represents Central New York, said Tuesday he has significant concerns with the Republican replacement plans for Obamacare. But he stopped short of saying how he would vote if the bill is not changed.

Tenney made her comments ahead of a vote on the GOP bill Thursday in the House Budget Committee. Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., a committee member and part of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said he intends to vote 'no' on the bill, Politico reported.

Other members of the House Freedom Caucus have also threatened to reject the GOP plan, calling it "Obamacare lite" because it maintains federal subsidies and phases out the Medicaid expansion.

New York officials say the Republican plan will leave 1 million state residents without health insurance and transfer $4.5 billion in costs from the federal government to state taxpayers.

Tenney said she will push for a slower unwinding of the Medicaid expansion that occurred under Obamacare because New York has a much larger population than other states enrolled in the program.

Tenney said hospitals in Upstate New York, particularly in rural areas, depend on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements for 60 percent or more of their budget.

"The problem we have in the New York (House) delegation is that we face a much different situation with the Medicaid expansion compared to most other states," Tenney said.

New York added about 1.9 million people to its Medicaid roles under Obamacare.

"There are a lot of unique issues that we have because of our aging population and our loss of jobs," Tenney said.

Tenney said she will push for changes in the GOP bill that would require states to pick up the local share of Medicaid costs from counties, currently set at 25 percent. In practice, many counties in New York pay less than that percentage because of a state cap.

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