CBO: Senate health bill leads to 22 million fewer insured Americans by 2026

Story by Yahoo News
Written by Liz Goodwin
CBO Official Link: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52849

WASHINGTON — The Senate health care bill would cause 22 million more people to be uninsured by 2026 than under current law, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced Monday. The dismal CBO score could foil Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to rush the sweeping legislation to the floor before July 4.

The CBO previously ignited a firestorm when it predicted that the House’s version of health care reform would result in 23 million fewer Americans having health insurance in 2026 compared to current law. Despite weeks of work, the Senate only managed to shave that number by one million, which could spell trouble for moderates who’ve expressed concerns about coverage loss. The CBO predicts 15 million more people would be uninsured by 2018 alone–mostly due to the bill dropping Obamacare’s individual mandate. Later coverage losses would be due to Medicaid cuts, fewer employers offering coverage, and other factors.

The Senate bill does, however, reduce the deficit by $321 billion over 10 years — significantly more than the House version, which saved $119 billion. The reduction comes from steep cuts to Medicaid. The Senate bill also would lower premiums on the exchanges by 20 percent over 10 years compared to current law, but the health care plans available would cover less, potentially leading to higher out-of-pocket costs.

Key Senate moderates such as Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have said the CBO’s uninsured numbers will be important in how they decide whether to support the bill or not. A pro-Obamacare group already ran attack ads targeting both senators and other moderates using the numbers from the CBO’s score of the House bill.

Last week, Collins called the CBO analysis “all important” and said she cannot support a bill that causes tens of millions of Americans to lose coverage.

“I want to wait to see the CBO analysis, but I have very serious concerns about the bill,” she said on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., announced his opposition to the legislation last Friday, saying it would cause too many Nevadans to lose coverage. But four Senate conservatives — Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas — have said they’re not backing the bill unless it moves to the right. McConnell needs at least 50 of his caucus’ 52 Republicans to support the bill for it to pass, and any policy shift to appease the conservative holdouts could cause more moderate GOP lawmakers to balk.

Senate Republicans may quibble with how the CBO scored their legislation, attempting to discredit the nonpartisan analysis. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said in an interview on Sunday that the CBO is “not accurate.” They will also likely tout the improved deficit reduction number.

On Monday, Senate leadership changed the bill to add a 6-month lock out period for people who have been uninsured for more than 63 days. That penalty for uninsured people is supposed to discourage healthy people from waiting to get sick to buy insurance, which could cause a “death spiral” of rising premiums on the exchanges.

Read more: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52849
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CBO: Senate ObamaCare repeal would leave 22M more uninsured

Story by The Hill
Written by Peter Sullivan
CBO Official Link: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52849

The Senate Republican ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill would result in 22 million more uninsured people over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The analysis is a hurdle for Republicans as they look to pass their bill this week.

The bill would result in $321 billion in deficit reduction over 10 years, the CBO found.

There would be 15 million more uninsured people next year, the report finds, largely due to the mandate to buy insurance being repealed. The number of uninsured would then rise in later years as smaller subsidies to buy private insurance and Medicaid cuts kick in.

CBO finds that lower financial assistance in this bill compared to ObamaCare would make premiums unaffordable for many low-income people, and deductibles would rise as well.

"As a result, despite being eligible for premium tax credits, few low-income people would purchase any plan," the CBO report states.

There would be 15 million fewer people enrolled in Medicaid over a decade, the CBO finds, as the legislation includes deep cuts to the program.

Like the House bill, CBO finds that premiums would initially rise under the Senate bill, before falling on average over time.

The report estimates premiums will increase in 2018 by 20 percent and by 10 percent in 2019. In 2020, premiums would be about 30 percent lower than under ObamaCare and 20 percent by 2026.

Deductibles, in turn, though, would rise, as plans became less generous.

The bill also allows states to repeal ObamaCare requirements on what an insurance plan must cover, known as essential health benefits. That move could make certain services extremely expensive.

Nearly half of Americans would live in areas where insurance covering certain healthcare services “would become more expensive — in some cases, extremely expensive” because of the repeal of essential health benefits, the CBO finds.

Read More: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/us/politics/senate-health-care-bill-republican.html