GOP senator says don’t repeal without replacement

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Republican senator says Congress should not finalize repeal of President Barack Obama’s health care law unless it first has a replacement ready.

Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, released a statement ahead of the panel’s hearing Wednesday on the nomination of Rep. Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Alexander said Obama’s law is like an old bridge, in danger of collapse. First it needs repairs, then new bridges have to be built before the old one is closed.

Republicans have sent mixed signals about how they plan to “repeal and replace” Obama’s law.

Initially, they planned to first repeal the law and replace it later, a process that could take years. But that could destabilize insurance markets, sending premiums through the roof and making millions uninsured.