If the Republican-controlled Congress goes ahead with a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) while delaying its replacement, the result could be “very, very damaging” to the health insurance market, according to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Burwell said the idea of repealing the law with a two-year window for a replacement would cause insurers to abandon the exchanges, leaving millions of people without any access to coverage. The result, she said, would be the same as if the law was repealed with immediate effect.

“For six years, we have not seen a replacement plan that has numbers and is scorable and can be measured,” Burwell said. “It’s very important that as we go forward in this conversation, that we all agree on what the basic standard of measurement should be for the American people to look at something.”

The last ACA replacement plan put forward by Republicans was in the form of a white paper, not actual legislation, and included no independent cost analysis.

For more on Burwell’s efforts to boost enrollment on the ACA exchanges despite the looming threat of repeal, click on the link below: