LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Congress will begin working immediately next year toward repealing President Barack Obama's health care law but will delay any changes as Republicans work to come up with an alternative, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday.
The Kentucky Republican insisted that about 20 million Americans who have health care through the 6-year-old law will not lose their coverage, although an upheaval in the insurance industry suggests that many could.
Asked about the Senate's timetable for scrapping the law, McConnell said, "We're going to move to it after we go back in the first week in January."
But during a speech in his hometown of Louisville, he called for patience from the law's critics as Republicans work on an alternative.
"You can't just snap your fingers and go from where we are today to where we're headed," McConnell told a crowd at the Kentucky Farm Bureau's annual meeting. "This has to be done carefully. It has to be done in a phased-in way over a period of time."
Republicans have been unable to agree on an alternative since the law's enactment in 2010, but now must produce a replacement if they scrap the law.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he would like to keep major elements of the law -- allowing children to remain on their parents' plans until age 26 and ensuring that companies don't deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. But it's unclear how a new version of the law could force insurance companies to provide the latter coverage.
With open enrollment underway, no changes are expected next year for the more than 10 million people currently covered through healthcare.gov and state markets that offer subsidized private insurance. An additional estimated 9 million low-income people covered by Medicaid in states that expanded the program are also protected for now.
McConnell said Saturday that Republicans have an obligation to repeal and replace a law that he called a "monstrosity." He blamed the law for rising co-payments, deductibles and premiums, and said it caused "chaos" in the private health insurance market.
"We have an obligation to the American people to straighten this out," he said. But, he added, replacing the law will be challenging "given the fact that it's been kicking in for six years."
Meanwhile, McConnell played down prospects for any new trade deals. Specifically, he said the Trans-Pacific Partnership won't pass in Congress because "politically it's unsustainable." Trump's tough talk on trade has included a threat to pull the United States out of the trade deal.
"As a practical matter, we will not be doing any trade agreements anytime soon," said McConnell, a trade proponent.
Separately, McConnell said he hopes that Trump takes quick action once in office to roll back Obama administration regulations that he said slowed economic growth.
"We've been working with the transition team on all the things he can begin on his own to produce relief on," McConnell said. "Some will take longer than others. But we intend to begin to dismantle this regulatory nightmare that's ... kept us from reaching our potential."
A Section on 12/04/2016