Doctors, hospitals, patient advocates and others who work in the nation’s healthcare system are growing increasingly alarmed at the Republican tax bill, warning that it threatens care for millions of sick Americans.

The legislation – which GOP leaders are rushing to pass this week – will eliminate beginning in 2019 the Affordable Care Act penalty on consumers without health coverage, a move many experts warn will weaken insurance markets in parts of the country.

The tax bill, which includes huge tax cuts for corporations, may also force tens of millions of dollars in cuts to the Medicare program under federal budget rules, though congressional leaders say they are confident they can waive the rules as they have in the past.

Most worrisome to many, the bill will open a $1.5-trillion hole in the federal deficit over the next decade. That will put substantial new pressure on government healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and has already ignited a renewed Republican campaign to cut them back.

“This is a horrid bill,” said John Baackes, chief executive of L.A. Care, a public insurance plan that covers more than 2 million mostly low-income residents of Los Angeles County.

“They haven’t been able to repeal and replace [the healthcare law], so they’ll attack it through the budget by looking for ways knock down the money that’s needed to cover people.”

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