CBO Scoring Predicts 22 Million More Uninsured

Mitch McConnell - principal author of bill that tells many Americans to simply go die

As expected, the CBO's scoring of the Senate GOP's health care "reform" bill has underscored the hideousness and cruelty of the Republican agenda: 22 million Americans would lose health care coverage while simultaneously the four hundred richest families each received over a 7 million dollar tax cut.  The worst harm would fall upon older, low income workers - i.e., those who purportedly supported Der Trumpenführer and believed his lies that no on would lose insurance coverage and that premiums would be lower.    Today's Republican Party is truly the reverse Robin Hood party where stealing from the poor to give to the rich is the main objective.  So much for the GOP being the party of "Christian values" - but we have known that reality for some time now.   A piece in the New York Times summarizes some of the CBO's findings.  Here are excerpts:

The budget office projects that by 2026, 49 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million people if the current law remained in effect. (The total increase is 22 million due to rounding.) The increase in the number of uninsured would be disproportionately larger among older people with lower incomes.  Several major changes under the Senate plan would cause fewer people to have insurance.

The bill repeals the individual mandate, which requires all Americans to obtain health insurance if they can afford it or else face penalties. The mandate, which many Republicans criticize, was created to keep insurance affordable for those who are older or sick.

Without the mandate, many healthy people are expected to drop coverage, driving up prices for those who need it most and ultimately causing even more people to drop out of the individual market.

The bill would also substantially reduce spending on Medicaid and reduce the value of tax credits that individuals use to buy health insurance, pricing many out of the market.

The largest group to lose health insurance coverage would be people with Medicaid. In 10 years, the C.B.O. projects, there would be 15 million fewer Medicaid enrollees. Changes in rules about insurance prices would also cause big premium increases for older Americans who don't qualify for subsidies. Even though average premiums would decrease, the amount that many Americans spend on health care over all would increase as deductibles rise and plans cover fewer benefits in many states.

Seemingly, Republicans view those losing coverage as little better than disposable garbage.  Their sole recourse would be to seek treatment at non-profit hospitals - which would severely harm the viability of many hospitals.  Not surprisingly, the blow back on the GOP has been fierce.  Another piece in the Times looks at the fall out.  Here are highlights:

The Senate bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act was edging toward collapse on Monday after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it would increase the number of people without health insurance by 22 million by 2026.

Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, said Monday that they would vote against even debating the health care bill, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin hinted that he, too, would probably oppose taking up the bill on a procedural vote expected as early as Tuesday, meaning a collapse could be imminent.

“It’s worse to pass a bad bill than pass no bill,” Mr. Paul told reporters.

The report left Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, with the unenviable choices of changing senators’ stated positions, withdrawing the bill from consideration while he renegotiates, or letting it go down to defeat — a remarkable conclusion to the Republicans’ seven-year push to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. But the budget office put Republicans in an untenable position. It found that next year, 15 million more people would be uninsured compared with current law. Premiums and out-of-pocket expenses could shoot skyward for some low-income people and for people nearing retirement, it said. Starting in 2020, the budget office said, premiums and deductibles would be so onerous that “few low-income people would purchase any plan.” Moreover, the report said, premiums for older people would be much higher under the Senate bill than under current law. As an example, it said, for a typical 64-year-old with an annual income of $26,500, the net premium in 2026 for a midlevel silver plan, after subsidies, would average $6,500, compared with $1,700 under the Affordable Care Act. And the insurance would cover less of the consumer’s medical costs.

Likewise, the report said, for a 64-year-old with an annual income of $56,800, the premium in 2026 would average $20,500 a year, or three times the amount expected under the Affordable Care Act.

Before the budget office released its report, the American Medical Association had announced its opposition to the bill, and the National Governors Association had cautioned the Senate against moving too quickly.

The budget office’s findings immediately gave fodder to Democrats, who were already assailing the bill as cruel. 

One more thing to remember: 81% of evangelicals voted for Trump/Republicans.  They own this nightmare too.  As for working class whites who supported Trump/Republicans, have you finally learned that calls to embrace racism and religious extremism are simply ploys to play you for fools?