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| Republican healthcare plan: 24 million people could lose coverage, CBO reports | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| As many as 24 million Americans risk losing health coverage over the next decade under the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported. | As many as 24 million Americans risk losing health coverage over the next decade under the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported. |
| By 2026, an estimated 52 million people would be uninsured if Congress enacts the healthcare proposal, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law, according to the report. President Donald Trump, who supports the legislation, vowed that the plan would provide “insurance for everybody”. | |
| The congressional analysts estimate that the Republican healthcare proposal could reduce the federal budget by $337bn over 10 years, with largest savings would come from cuts to the federal Medicaid program and “Obamacare” tax credits for people who buy insurance individually. | |
| The bill, called the American Health Care Act, faces intensifying opposition from conservatives, Democrats, consumer interest groups and nearly every sector of the US healthcare industry. | The bill, called the American Health Care Act, faces intensifying opposition from conservatives, Democrats, consumer interest groups and nearly every sector of the US healthcare industry. |
| The ACHA seeks to radically transform and cut Medicaid, one of America’s largest social safety nets; end requirements for Americans to purchase healthcare; allow insurance companies to charge the old five times more than the young; expand tax-free health savings accounts; cut taxes that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy; and shrink subsidies that benefit the middle class. | The ACHA seeks to radically transform and cut Medicaid, one of America’s largest social safety nets; end requirements for Americans to purchase healthcare; allow insurance companies to charge the old five times more than the young; expand tax-free health savings accounts; cut taxes that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy; and shrink subsidies that benefit the middle class. |
| At the same time, it allows insurance companies to levy a 30% surcharge to anyone who does not have insurance for more than two months, meant to incentivize people to keep insurance. | At the same time, it allows insurance companies to levy a 30% surcharge to anyone who does not have insurance for more than two months, meant to incentivize people to keep insurance. |
| When the ACA was passed, it sought to insure all Americans and standardize health benefits. The law passed consumer protections, expanded Medicaid to single adults and established subsidized marketplaces for individuals to buy insurance. | When the ACA was passed, it sought to insure all Americans and standardize health benefits. The law passed consumer protections, expanded Medicaid to single adults and established subsidized marketplaces for individuals to buy insurance. |
| Though the GOP plan would scrap many of the existing law’s critical provisions, it keeps a handful of its most popular ones: a requirement that insurers cover the sick, allowing young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance, and a ban on lifetime coverage caps. | Though the GOP plan would scrap many of the existing law’s critical provisions, it keeps a handful of its most popular ones: a requirement that insurers cover the sick, allowing young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance, and a ban on lifetime coverage caps. |
| During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump touted a replacement plan that would provide “universal healthcare”. | During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump touted a replacement plan that would provide “universal healthcare”. |
| Earlier on Monday, Trump invited a group of people – referred to by the administration as “victims of Obamacare” – to the White House to share their recount their negative experiences with the healthcare law. | Earlier on Monday, Trump invited a group of people – referred to by the administration as “victims of Obamacare” – to the White House to share their recount their negative experiences with the healthcare law. |
| During the listening session, Trump heard from a cattle rancher who said her business was at risk because of the burden of providing healthcare for her employees, and a stay-at-home mom who was forced to re-enter the workforce because the increase in the premium for their family insurance was unaffordable, among others. The president promised the table that the Republican plan would ensure “access for everyone”, a departure from his earlier promise to create universal healthcare. | |
| This weekend, Trump weighed in to contradict the narrative that the replacement plan, which comes with the full backing of his administration, is imperiled by Republican divisions. | This weekend, Trump weighed in to contradict the narrative that the replacement plan, which comes with the full backing of his administration, is imperiled by Republican divisions. |
| “We are making great progress with healthcare,” Trump tweeted on Saturday. “Obamacare is imploding and will only get worse. Republicans coming together to get job done!” | “We are making great progress with healthcare,” Trump tweeted on Saturday. “Obamacare is imploding and will only get worse. Republicans coming together to get job done!” |
| The conclusion by the Congressional Budget Office that fewer people will be covered under the GOP healthcare plan was widely anticipated, and on Sunday Republicans sought to downplay the impact of the analysis. | The conclusion by the Congressional Budget Office that fewer people will be covered under the GOP healthcare plan was widely anticipated, and on Sunday Republicans sought to downplay the impact of the analysis. |
| White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn said the CBO analysis would be “meaningless” on Fox News Sunday. | White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn said the CBO analysis would be “meaningless” on Fox News Sunday. |
| House speaker Paul Ryan said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday: “The one thing I’m certain will happen is CBO will say, ‘Well, gosh, not as many people will get coverage.’ You know why? Because this isn’t a government mandate.” | House speaker Paul Ryan said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday: “The one thing I’m certain will happen is CBO will say, ‘Well, gosh, not as many people will get coverage.’ You know why? Because this isn’t a government mandate.” |
| Health secretary Tom Price also claimed on Meet the Press that “nobody will be worse off financially” as a result of the plan, a prediction the CBO report contradicts. | Health secretary Tom Price also claimed on Meet the Press that “nobody will be worse off financially” as a result of the plan, a prediction the CBO report contradicts. |
| Meanwhile, conservative Republicans sharpened their opposition to the repeal-and-replace proposal, which some have dubbed “Obamacare Lite”. | Meanwhile, conservative Republicans sharpened their opposition to the repeal-and-replace proposal, which some have dubbed “Obamacare Lite”. |
| With the GOP having only a two-vote majority in the Senate, the bill needs to bring warring factions together to pass, assuming Democrats uniformly oppose the bill. | With the GOP having only a two-vote majority in the Senate, the bill needs to bring warring factions together to pass, assuming Democrats uniformly oppose the bill. |
| “I would say to my friends in the House of Representatives with whom I serve: ‘Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote,’” Tom Cotton, a Republican senator for Arkansas, told ABC. “If they vote for this bill, they’re going to put the House majority at risk next year.” | “I would say to my friends in the House of Representatives with whom I serve: ‘Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote,’” Tom Cotton, a Republican senator for Arkansas, told ABC. “If they vote for this bill, they’re going to put the House majority at risk next year.” |
| Equally as blunt, Rand Paul, a Republican senator for Kentucky, said of Ryan’s plan: “He will not have the votes.” | Equally as blunt, Rand Paul, a Republican senator for Kentucky, said of Ryan’s plan: “He will not have the votes.” |
| A handful of GOP senators have criticized the bill for not protecting Medicaid beneficiaries, and two Republican senators have objected to the provision stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding. | A handful of GOP senators have criticized the bill for not protecting Medicaid beneficiaries, and two Republican senators have objected to the provision stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding. |
| House Republicans have pressed ahead quickly with the bill, which was unveiled last week. The healthcare plan was approved by two key House committees last week after all-night debates and despite objections from Democrats, who argued that it was critical to know the findings of the CBO report first. The proposal will next head to the House budget committee. | House Republicans have pressed ahead quickly with the bill, which was unveiled last week. The healthcare plan was approved by two key House committees last week after all-night debates and despite objections from Democrats, who argued that it was critical to know the findings of the CBO report first. The proposal will next head to the House budget committee. |
| According to a preliminary assessment from the ratings agency S&P Global, between 2 million and 4 million people who are insured through the individual insurance market under the healthcare law could lose coverage, as well as between 4 million and 6 million people who are currently enrolled in Medicaid. | According to a preliminary assessment from the ratings agency S&P Global, between 2 million and 4 million people who are insured through the individual insurance market under the healthcare law could lose coverage, as well as between 4 million and 6 million people who are currently enrolled in Medicaid. |
| The left-leaning Brookings Institute predicted the CBO report would show that as many as 15 million people would lose coverage if the healthcare replacement plan passes. And the Commonwealth Fund, which supports health policy research, estimates that one in 10 Americans is at risk of having “no insurance, less affordable insurance, or less valuable insurance if the law is repealed without a replacement that does as well as or better than the ACA in assuring access to needed health care services”. | The left-leaning Brookings Institute predicted the CBO report would show that as many as 15 million people would lose coverage if the healthcare replacement plan passes. And the Commonwealth Fund, which supports health policy research, estimates that one in 10 Americans is at risk of having “no insurance, less affordable insurance, or less valuable insurance if the law is repealed without a replacement that does as well as or better than the ACA in assuring access to needed health care services”. |
| At the same time, as debate on the ACA has heated up its popularity hit a historic high in February, according to findings from the Pew Research Center and the latest Kaiser Health Tracking poll. The result is the highest level of support for the law in the 60 tracking polls Kaiser Health has conducted since 2010. | At the same time, as debate on the ACA has heated up its popularity hit a historic high in February, according to findings from the Pew Research Center and the latest Kaiser Health Tracking poll. The result is the highest level of support for the law in the 60 tracking polls Kaiser Health has conducted since 2010. |