CBO: New health bill would leave 23M more uninsured

Report: People with pre-existing issues would be hard hit

USA TODAY WASHINGTON The Republican health bill passed by the House earlier this month would lead to 23 million fewer people having health insurance by 2026, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

That number is 1 million fewer than an analysis of a March draft version of the bill. The previous CBO analysis had predicted the draft bill would leave 24 million more people without health insurance than the law passed under President Barack Obama would cover.

The legislation is also expected to increase insurance premiums by 20 percent in 2018 and 5 percent in 2019. But by 2020, premiums are expected to decrease. The expected decrease varies by state depending on how they implement the law.

The analysis does point out, however, that for people with pre-existing conditions “premiums would rise over time, and people who are less healthy (including those with pre-existing or newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive non-group health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all.”

The bill as approved would decrease the deficit by $119 billion, about $32 billion less than the previous version of the bill.

Many House Republicans avoided specifics of the analysis and instead focused on the overall picture, which was “that the American Health Care Act achieves our mission: lowering premiums and lowering the deficit,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said.

“We’re on a rescue mission, and today’s CBO report reinforces what we’ve said before — our American Health Care Act will lower premiums and reduce the deficit,” said House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, RWash. “The CBO report doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to the benefits of this bill.”

Democrats pounced on the new CBO numbers, particularly on the issue of who would be uninsured. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the score “devastating” and said “House Republicans have tattooed themselves with a Trumpcare bill that means higher costs, 23 million hardworking Americans losing coverage, shredding key protections, a crushing age tax and stealing from Medicare.”