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Former President Barack Obama defended his signature legislative achievement in a lengthy Facebook post on Thursday | Getty

Former President Barack Obama on Thursday denounced the Senate proposal to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, calling the Republican bill a massive transfer of wealth to the richest people in America with a fundamental meanness at its core.

Obama, who has largely stayed out of the political fray and refrained from publicly criticizing President Donald Trump since leaving office, defended his signature legislative achievement in a lengthy Facebook post on Thursday, hours after Senate leaders unveiled the bill. And he accused Republicans of promoting legislation that will harm Americans.

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The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill, Obama wrote. Its a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else.

Simply put, if theres a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family this bill will do you harm, he added. And small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.

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In the post, Obama acknowledged that Republicans have run on a platform of repealing Obamacare for years, but called on them to work with Democrats to offer fixes to the health care system rather than support the proposed overhaul.

He also argued, as he has previously, that his 2010 legislation is imperfect but has helped many people.

I still hope that there are enough Republicans in Congress who remember that public service is not about sport or notching a political win, that theres a reason we all chose to serve in the first place, and that hopefully, its to make peoples lives better, not worse, Obama wrote.

But right now, after eight years, the legislation rushed through the House and the Senate without public hearings or debate would do the opposite, he added.

Obama also called on his supporters to call lawmakers and voice their opposition to the proposal.

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Obama says Senate health care bill has 'fundamental meanness ...