Congressional Democrats on Wednesday rushed to condemn a new analysis of the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, which found that people who are older or less healthy would be faced with paying higher premiums under the GOP plan.
“The report makes clear: Trumpcare would be a cancer on the American healthcare system, causing costs to skyrocket, making coverage unaffordable for those with pre-existing conditions, and many seniors, and kicking millions off their health insurance,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a press conference with other Democrats. ”
Unless you’re a healthy millionaire, Trumpcare is a nightmare,” he said. “This report ought to be the final nail in the coffin of the Republican effort to sabotage our healthcare system.”
“If House Republicans have their way, many Americans with pre-existing conditions will be pushed off their insurance and forced into high risk pools with soaring costs and frightening limits on the care they need,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Some Americans with pre-existing conditions would no longer be able to afford coverage of any kind.”
Senate Democrats quickly staged a press conference to denounce the House bill in light of the findings issued by the Congressional Budget Office, which predicted 23 million more people would be left uninsured under the GOP bill than under Obamacare. However, CBO has also said many of those people would leave Obamacare voluntarily, since the GOP bill would eliminate the individual health insurance mandate.
The CBO on Wednesday released an assessment of the American Health Care Act based on changes made just before it passed the House earlier this month, including a provision allowing the states to waive Obamacare mandates.
“The House of Representatives tried to put lipstick on a pig and they created a really big mess,” said Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Wyden said Democrats will hold town hall meetings next week to rally against GOP efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. Congress is set to depart for the week-long recess at the end of the week.
“Certainly the CBO score gives us a big boost,” Wyden said.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called the GOP bill “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Republicans were initially silent, save for a few pithy statements and tweets.
“With today’s news, the ‘Collapse and Replace’ of Obamacare may prove to be the most effective path forward,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was among the few to praise the CBO report, which he said “again confirms that the American Health Care Act will lower premiums and the deficit.”
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the score showed the GOP bill would reduce the deficit by $119 billion, “paving the way for the Senate to do its work to repeal and replace Obamacare.”
Rep. Greg Walden, who helped write the bill, said the CBO showed more people would be covered under the revised House bill plus some reduction in premium costs.
“This is the first plan out there that really brings premiums down, that has the potential to bring premiums down,” said Walden, R-Ore. “So it’s a step forward.”
Republicans in the Senate are not planning to vote on the House bill and have said they would take into account the CBO score in determining how much, if any of the House bill, to incorporate into their own plan.
Some, like Graham, have suggested doing nothing, and simply allowing Obamacare to collapse on its own and starting over.
The current healthcare bill is suffering from collapsing insurance markets and skyrocketing premiums and deductibles.
Schumer blamed Obamacare’s problems on the GOP and President Trump, who has not promised to continue to subsidize health insurance companies.
“Our Republican colleagues are committing sabotage to prove a political point,” Schumer said. He said Democrats would work with the GOP on fixing the law, “once they abandon repeal,” of Obamacare.
Outside groups either praised the tax cuts or condemned the coverage reductions.
“Today’s estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office show that last-minute changes to the AHCA made by the House offered no real improvements,” American Medical Association President Andrew W. Gurman said. “Millions of Americans will become uninsured — with low-income families on Medicaid being hit the hardest.”
Americans for Tax Reform praised the CBO analysis showing the repeal of Obamacare would bring $992 billion in tax cuts over the next decade.
