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23
million
more
uninsured
with GOP
health
bill,
analysts
say
By ALAN
FRAM and
RICARDO
ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
ap.org
WASHINGTON
-- The
health
care
bill
that
Republicans
recently
pushed
through
the
House
would
leave 23
million
more
Americans
without
insurance
and
confront
many
others
who have
costly
medical
conditions
with
coverage
that
could
prove
unaffordable,
Congress'
official
budget
analysts
said
Wednesday.
Premiums
on
average
would
fall
compared
to
President
Barack
Obama's
health
care
overhaul
- a
chief
goal of
many
Republicans
- but
that
would be
partly
because
policies
would
typically
provide
less
coverage,
said the
report
by the
nonpartisan
Congressional
Budget
Office.
In some
areas of
the
country,
people
with
pre-existing
medical
conditions
and
others
who were
seriously
ill
"would
ultimately
be
unable
to
purchase"
robust
coverage
at
premiums
comparable
to
today's
prices,
"if they
could
purchase
at all,"
the
report
said.
Democrats
jumped
on the
report
as
further
evidence
that the
GOP
effort
to
repeal
Obama's
2010 law
- a
staple
of
Donald
Trump's
presidential
campaign
and
those of
numerous
GOP
congressional
candidates
for
years -
would be
destructive.
It comes
three
weeks
after
the
House
passed
the
legislation
with
only
Republican
votes,
and as
Senate
Republicans
try
crafting
their
own
version,
which
they say
will be
different.
"The
report
makes
clear
that
Trumpcare
would be
a cancer
on the
American
health
care
system,"
said
Senate
Minority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
D-N.Y.,
using
the
nickname
Democrats
have
tried
pinning
on the
bill.
Schumer
said the
legislation
would
end up
"causing
costs to
skyrocket,
making
coverage
unaffordable
for
those
with
preexisting
conditions
and many
seniors,
and
kicking
millions
off of
their
health
insurance."
Trump's
Health
and
Human
Services
secretary,
Tom
Price,
dismissed
the new
analysis.
"The CBO
was
wrong
when
they
analyzed
Obamacare's
effect
on cost
and
coverage,"
he said
of the
agency's
report
on
Obama's
law,
"and
they are
wrong
again."
That was
sharply
different
from
Republican
House
Speaker
Paul
Ryan's
take.
"This
CBO
report
again
confirms
that the
American
Health
Care Act
achieves
our
mission:
lowering
premiums
and
lowering
the
deficit.
It is
another
positive
step
toward
keeping
our
promise
to
repeal
and
replace
Obamacare."
The
report
said the
House
bill -
named
the
American
Health
Care Act
- would
reduce
federal
deficits
by $119
billion
over the
next
decade.
Trump
and
Republicans
celebrated
House
passage
of the
bill
earlier
this
month in
a Rose
Garden
ceremony,
even as
GOP
senators
signaled
their
opposition
and
signaled
that the
bill had
little
chance
of
becoming
law.
The
budget
office
raised
concerns
about a
key
legislative
compromise
that
allowed
the bill
to
narrowly
pass the
House on
May 4,
by a
vote of
217-213.
To win
needed
votes
after
several
embarrassing
setbacks,
Republican
conservatives
and
moderates
struck a
deal
that
would
let
states
get
federal
waivers
to
permit
insurers
to
charge
higher
premiums
to some
people
in poor
health,
and to
ignore
the
standard
set of
benefits
required
by
Obama's
statute.
CBO said
states
adopting
those
waivers
run the
risk of
destabilizing
coverage
for
people
with
medical
problems.
The
agency
estimated
that
about
one-sixth
of the
U.S.
population
- more
than 50
million
people -
live in
states
that
would
make
substantial
changes
under
the
waivers.
"Over
time, it
would
become
more
difficult
for less
healthy
people
(including
people
with
preexisting
medical
conditions)
in those
states
to
purchase
insurance
because
their
premiums
would
continue
to
increase
rapidly,"
the
report
said.
The new
estimates
will
serve as
a
starting
point
for GOP
senators
starting
to write
their
own
version
of the
legislation
as they
consider
changing
the
House's
Medicaid
cuts,
tax
credits
and
other
policies.
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