Analysts: 23 million more will be uninsured
CBO says House bill would cut deficit by $119 billion over the next decade
WASHINGTON — The health care bill Republicans recently pushed through the House would leave 23 million more Americans without insurance and confront many others who have costly medical conditions with coverage that could prove unaffordable, Congress’ official budget analysts said Wednesday.
Premiums on average would fall compared to President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul — a chief goal of many Republicans — but that would be partly because policies would typically provide less coverage, said the report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
In some areas of the country, people with pre-existing medical conditions and others who were seriously ill “would ultimately be unable to purchase” robust coverage at premiums comparable to today’s prices,
“This CBO report again confirms that the American Health Care Act achieves our mission: lowering premiums and lowering the deficit.” – HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN
“if they could purchase at all,” the report said.
Democrats jumped on the report as further evidence that the GOP effort to repeal Obama’s 2010 law would be destructive. It comes three weeks after the House passed the legislation with only Republican votes, and as Senate Republicans try crafting their own version.
“The report makes clear that Trumpcare would be a cancer on the American health care system,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., using the nickname Democrats have tried pinning on the bill. Schumer said the legislation would end up “causing costs to skyrocket, making coverage unaffordable for those with pre-existing conditions and many seniors, and kicking millions off of their health insurance.”
President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary, Tom Price, dismissed the new analysis.
“The CBO was wrong when they analyzed Obamacare’s effect on cost and coverage,” he said of the agency’s report on Obama’s law, “and they are wrong again.”
That was sharply different from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan’s take.
“This CBO report again confirms that the American Health Care Act achieves our mission: lowering premiums and lowering the deficit. It is another positive step toward keeping our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.”
The report said the House bill — named the American Health Care Act — would reduce federal deficits by $119 billion over the next decade.
Trump and Republicans celebrated House passage of the bill earlier this month, even as GOP senators signaled their opposition.
The new estimates will serve as a starting point for GOP senators starting to write their own version of the legislation as they consider changing the House’s Medicaid cuts, tax credits and other policies.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said in a Wednesday afternoon email that he has identified four key areas for focus:
“My own goals for a Senate bill include: 1) rescuing the thousands of Tennesseans and millions of Americans who will be trapped in collapsing Affordable Care Act exchanges with few or even zero options for health insurance in 2018 unless Congress acts; 2) lowering premium costs, which have increased under the ACA law; 3) gradually giving states more flexibility on the Medicaid program, but doing this in a way that does not pull the rug out from under people who rely on Medicaid; and 4) making sure those with pre-existing conditions have access to insurance.”