About 14 million fewer Americans will have health insurance next year under the new Republican plan to replace Obamacare, a nonpartisan congressional analysis projected Monday, heaping pressure on President Donald Trump to make good on his pledge for broader coverage.
By 2026, that number would shoot up to 24 million, the Congressional Budget Office projected, in perhaps the most alarming revelation in its highly-anticipated report.
It also said that enacting the legislation currently before Congress — a measure backed by Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan — would reduce the federal deficit by some $337 billion over the next decade, a relatively small savings given the massive size of the US economy.
Average health coverage premiums would rise by 15 to 20 percent in 2018 and 2019 for individual policy holders, it said.
The CBO report was being seen as a black eye for Trump’s effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, which has already faced substantial opposition from within his own party, especially over fears it would leave millions uninsured.
“Trumpcare would be a nightmare for the American people,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said, as he and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi urged House Speaker Paul Ryan to scrap the legislation.
Trump and his inner circle have insisted the plan will be a vast improvement over Barack Obama’s signature health care reform — which many in his party say caused health care coverage costs to spike.
“We disagree strenuously with the report that was put out,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said at the White House.
“The CBO looked at a portion of the plan but not the entire plan,” Price said.
AFP
