Citizens worried about changes to Affordable Care Act under Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump has said that one of his first missions in office will be to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." Officials say that the SRA Enrollment Assistance

News 12 Staff

Nov 15, 2016, 5:15 AM

Updated 2,854 days ago

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President-elect Donald Trump has said that one of his first missions in office will be to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare."
Officials say that the SRA Enrollment Assistance Center in Clifton saw an uptick this week after Trump was elected.
"People are coming in for questions. They want to know if this really going to end or is this it," says the center's Humayun Ahmed. "We assured them, even if it's modified, it is going to take time."
Kirit Galia signed up for "Obamacare" for the first time Monday.
"I had private insurance and it was $600 a month, which is very high," he says. "I don't know how they can afford it."
Trump says he supports insurance for those with pre-existing conditions as well as allowing children to remain as dependents on their parent's insurance until they are 26 years old.
"I'm actually really glad he's recognizing the benefits and the highlights of this plan and hopefully they can just work together to make it even better," says the center's Janelle Ince.
But many small businesses owners say that the current health care system made it hard for them to survive. Couples working together lost some benefits.
"Husbands and wives and partners lost their group coverage, had to buy insurance as individuals and then lost tax deductibility," says Health Benefit Navigator managing partner Roy Pranpat.
Other small business owners say that they suffered due to high premiums.
"There didn't seem to be any economic help for the small employer to make this thing work," says Health Benefit Navigator managing partner Richard Oscar. "The only way [one employer] could afford to provide coverage for his employees is by deteriorating the coverage."
Enrollment for "Obamacare" will go through January 2017. Under the program, consumers will be able to choose from Horizon Blue Cross and AmeriHealth.