We, the undersigned constituents of the 19th congressional district of New York State have created this petition to affirm our position on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As such, we have provided concrete and unambiguous demands, which could not be expressed through your limited online survey.

Whereas:

• The repeal of ACA without an immediate replacement by an equal or more affordable and equitable plan will result in the loss of health insurance for tens of thousands of constituents who are “priced out” of coverage due to unregulated premiums based on discriminatory factors such as preexisting conditions and gender. 
• Such repeal would arguably lead to the closure of local hospitals, further impacting underserved rural populations throughout the 19th district, due to limited access to care and job losses in a region where healthcare is a major economic driver.
• Studies have proven a correlation between the uninsured and increased mortality rates. Repealing the ACA will result in the death of an estimated 40,000 American citizens annually.

We ask you to reject the repeal of the ACA, unless it is immediately replaced by an equal or better plan that would meet the following conditions.

• Not one person currently covered by the ACA would lose their insurance for any reason, including affordability, health condition, employment status, etc.
• Not one person would have less access to quality healthcare due to hospital closures, reductions in services, or the defunding of comprehensive women's health care
• No child receiving CHIP healthcare benefits will be impacted by a transition from ACA to a replacement program that is equal to or more affordable than ACA. CHIP will remain available to New York State families under all circumstances.