An estimated 23 million people would lose health coverage by 2026 under Republican legislation aimed at repealing Obamacare, a nonpartisan congressional agency said on Wednesday in the first calculation of the new bill’s potential impact. Chris Dignam reports.
The House Republican healthcare bill passed earlier this month will leave 23 million more Americans without health insurance.
That’s the latest estimate from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, which released its findings Wednesday afternoon. The new number down minimally from the estimated 24 million people who would lose health insurance by 2026 in the CBO’s score of the previous House bill.
Republicans facing harsh criticism since passing their health bill from Democrats and in town halls across the country. The backlash likely to escalate as the CBO concluded the number of uninsured was only reduced by 1 million people and that premiums will vary significantly.
The report also saying that the bill would cut the federal deficit by 119 billion dollars between now and 2026. That calculation opens the door for Congress to pass the bill through a process called reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority instead of a full two-thirds of votes in the Senate. Republicans hold a 52-48 majority.
Soon after the release of the new CBO score the minority voicing its opposition.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER SAYING:
“The report makes clear Trump Care would be a cancer on the American health care system.”
A group of 13 Republican senators led by Mitch McConnell have said they’ll be rewriting their own version of the healthcare bill in the coming months. The majority leader telling Reuters Wednesday: “I don’t know how we get to 50 at the moment. But that’s the goal.”