Millions would lose coverage under health bill: analysts

Fourteen million Americans would lose coverage next year under House Republican legislation remaking the U.S. health-care system, and that number would balloon to 24 million by 2026, Congress’ budget analysts projected Monday. But the deficit would be reduced by $337 billion in that period, a Congressional Budget Office report said.

The report deals a blow to a Republican drive already under fire from both parties and large segments of the medical industry.

The Congressional Budget Office report undercuts a central argument U.S. President Donald Trump and Republicans have cited for swiftly rolling back the 2010 health-care overhaul under former president Barack Obama: that the insurance markets created under that statute are “a disaster” and about to implode.

The report also flies in the face of Trump’s talk of “insurance for everybody,” which he stated in January. He has since embraced a less expansive goal — to “increase access” — advanced by House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans.

Health secretary Tom Price told reporters at the White House the report was “simply wrong.”

In a signal of trouble, Rep. Mark Walker, leader of a large group of House conservatives, said the report “does little to alleviate” concerns about the bill including tax credits considered too costly.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the projections show “just how empty the president’s promises … have been.”

“I hope they would pull the bill. It’s really the only decent thing to do,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

The American Medical Association, which has opposed the Republican bill because it would reduce coverage, said the report shows the legislation would cause “unacceptable consequences.”