House Health Care Bill Leaves 23 Million Americans Uninsured

The “American Health Care Act” was passed by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives before the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office could determine how much it would cost and who would be covered. The CBO has finished the analysis, and the AHCA score is, basically GOP +1, Americans less than zero. 14 million Americans would be without health insurance next year, 23 million within a decade. In states that seek waivers from providing essential health coverage mandates, a feature of the bill, insurance would be priced out of reach for many people with preexisting conditions. There would be a new tier of plans at lower cost that don’t actually cover major medical risks, so the CBO doesn’t count the projected buyers as insured.

The cynical, life-threatening measure might reduce the federal budget by $119 billion over a decade, less than the $150 billion in savings projected by Paul Ryan, who wants to use any health care savings to give the wealthy a tax break. For the GOP, there’s no problem that can’t be solved by tax cuts for the rich.

Under the GOP Plan, 24 Million People Will Lose Health Coverage

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has scored Paul Ryan’s 53-page American Health Care Act, and found it would save $337 billion over 10 years by denying health insurance to 24 million Americans. 14 million would lose coverage in the first year and insurance rates would rise 15-20% in 2018-2019. The AHCA celebrates all this by giving billions in tax breaks to the rich.

The biggest losers with the GOP health care bill? Americans who voted for Trump.

More:

“Health Bill Would Add 24 Million Uninsured but Save $337 Billion, Report Says,” Thomas Kaplan and Robert Pear, New York Times.

“The CBO’s nonpartisan report on the Republican ACA replacement plan, explained in 6 charts: It’s an attack on the poor.” Alvin Chang, Vox

Update:

Turns out that White House analysts are even more pessimistic than the CBO, and think 26 million people would lose coverage.

“White House analysis of Obamacare repeal sees even deeper insurance losses than CBO,” Paul Demko, Politico

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