Gov. Larry Hogan joined a bipartisan group of governors in calling for the U.S. Senate to reject a plan to repeal but not immediately replace the Affordable Care Act.

Gov. Larry Hogan. (The Daily Record / Maximilian Franz)

Instead, the group of 11 state leaders said, federal lawmakers should work to fix the system, stabilize insurance markets and include them in crafting the solution.

“Congress should work to make health insurance more affordable by controlling costs and stabilizing the market, and we are pleased to see a growing number of senators stand up for this approach,” the group of 11 governors wrote in a joint statement. “The Senate should immediately reject efforts to ‘repeal’ the current system and replace sometime later. This could leave millions of Americans without coverage.

“The best next step is for both parties to come together and do what we can all agree on: fix our unstable insurance markets. Going forward, it is critically important that governors are brought to the table to provide input, and we stand ready to work with lawmakers in an open, bipartisan way to provide better insurance for all Americans.”

Hogan joined Republican Govs. John Kasich, Charlie Baker, Phil Scott and Brian Sandoval, Democratic Govs. Steve Bullock, John Bel Edwards, John Hickenlooper, Tom Wolf and Terry McAuliffe and Independent Gov. Bill Walker, in signing the letter.

The letter comes on the same day that more Republican senators have abandoned a plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, is now floating a plan that would simply repeal the law and replace it in the next two years.

Proud to join fellow governors from both parties to call for common sense, bipartisan solutions to the #healthcare challenges we face: pic.twitter.com/qKwaxOQvK3

— Larry Hogan (@LarryHogan) July 18, 2017

In Maryland, as many as 500,000 people could be affected by a repeal.

Hogan has come under more pressure to comment on the possible repeal by Democrats, who are painting him as an ally of President Donald Trump and vying to defeat him in 2018.

Looks like it’s finally safe for Governor Hogan to come out of hiding and take a position, now that everything is done. https://t.co/Zf6UPjqRvg

— Kirill Reznik (@DelegateReznik) July 18, 2017

Ah, wait until the bill is dead and assure everyone that opposition was there the whole time! Brilliant.

— Bill Ferguson (@SenBillFerg) July 18, 2017