One WNY doctor says despite President Trump pronouncing the Affordable Care Act "dead" with the passage of the Republican's tax plan, the health care plan is still very much alive.

On Wednesday, Trump said the provision in the tax plan that eliminates the individual mandate effectively repeals the Affordable Care Act.

The individual mandate imposed a tax penalty on any eligible person who didn't purchase insurance.

The head of the Greater Buffalo United Accountability Healthcare Network says the individual mandate was important to funding the ACA, but most of the policy is still in place.

"You still have the other pieces in the system and the dollars are already invested. So, most of the programs that are part of the Affordable Care Act are intact until 2021. So, this is just one piece that may affect the exchanges and CHIP, these may all affect the exchanges but overall you still have products that the Affordable Care Act put together, like accountable care organizations, which we are a part of," Dr. Raul Vazquez said.

Vazquez says if the estimated 13 million people lose health care under the elimination of the individual mandate, those with health care plans could see a big increase in their insurance premiums.