(Adds Senator Alexander's comments)
By Susan Cornwell and Emily Stephenson
WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday pressured fellow Republicans working to repeal Obamacare in Congress to pass a replacement for the healthcare law at the same time or soon after they vote to dismantle it.
Trump told the New York Times he wanted a substitute for President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law done "very quickly or simultaneously" to the vote to get rid of it. (http://nyti.ms/2ia9qLk)
The law, popularly known as Obamacare, has enabled millions of previously uninsured Americans to obtain health insurance, but Republicans condemn it as a government overreach.
With Trump set to succeed Obama on Jan. 20, Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, face a dilemma. They have a chance to make good on their promise to gut the law, but forging an agreement on a replacement plan has eluded them.
If Congress does not put in place a substitute, millions of Americans with the insurance may be at risk of losing coverage.
The law extended insurance coverage to uninsured Americans by expanding the Medicaid program for the poor and creating online exchanges where people can shop for health insurance plans. It also provides subsidies to help individuals and families afford those plans.
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that some elements of an insurance substitute likely would be ready when lawmakers vote to repeal Obamacare, but others would take longer.
Some Republicans have said it could take up to two years to craft a replacement. Trump said a delay of that length was unacceptable, telling the Times: "It won't be repeal and then two years later go in with another plan."
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Trump's comments were "not inconsistent" with lawmakers' plans.
The Senate is set to vote this week on a timeline to draft legislation repealing Obamacare. If it passes, the House would vote next. But a vote to actually repeal the law would come later.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans were mired in "internecine fights" and called on Trump to publish his own Obamacare substitute.
Trump during the 2016 election campaign put forth general principles for health reform, such as removing the mandate that all Americans have insurance or pay a tax and expanding the use of tax-free health savings accounts, but he did not release a full plan.
"If they are repealing, they have an obligation to show us a full replacement plan, not just a little piece of it," Schumer said. "And once they show us that plan, we'll give them our opinion of it."