The grim Congressional Budget Office report on the impact of repealing Obamacare isn’t accurate, according to healthcare experts and proponents of the plan to roll back the law.
The CBO Tuesday predicted premium increases of up to 25 percent and a loss of coverage for as many as 18 million people if the GOP successfully repeals the law. Democrats are now using the report as their chief talking point in the effort to block the repeal, arguing it will deeply hurt constituents who depend on the law for coverage now.
“This nonpartisan report is another startling affirmation of the far-reaching and disastrous consequences that a rushed repeal of the Affordable Care Act would have for millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Mainers,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.
But Republicans say the report is not accurate because it does not incorporate a replacement plan they intend to pass that would lower costs and offset anyone losing coverage.
Republicans have pledged to repeal the law and replace at least some of it in the same legislation. They have also promised to maintain some of the popular provisions in the law, such as allowing parents to include their children up to age 26 on their policies and to ensure those with pre-existing conditions maintain coverage.
“This projection is meaningless, as it takes into account no measures to replace the law nor actions that the incoming administration will take to revitalize the individual market that has been decimated by Obamacare,” said AshLee Strong, a spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said the report is just a distraction from the GOP effort to save people from the huge spike in insurance premiums they have seen under Obamacare.
“Since President Obama’s signature health care law was introduced, Americans have been fed so much misinformation,” he said. “These types of rigged reports only push a narrative that doesn’t match what I am hearing from Georgians.”
“Many of my constituents have shared their personal Obamacare horror stories, and I am working hard on their behalf to fix our broken health care system,” he added. “It is past time for Senate Democrats to realize that Obamacare has failed, and it is collapsing under its own weight.”
Chris Jacobs, a healthcare policy analyst, said the CBO report is calculated by analyzing what would happen under the healthcare repeal law passed last year by the GOP-led Congress and vetoed by President Obama. That measure included no provisions to substitute for the law.
“The CBO report is based on a hypothetical scenario that does not exist, one in which Congress passes the exact same repeal bill as last year, does not replace the law, and the Trump administration does nothing to provide regulatory relief,” Jacobs told the Washington Examiner. “It is highly unlikely that even one of these hypotheticals will come to fruition, let alone all three.”
But the report underscores the uncertainty the public feels in the face of the repeal and replace effort. Republicans have not announced specific legislation. Instead, they plan to confer about a plan at their upcoming policy retreat in Philadelphia.
President-elect Trump has promised the law’s replacement will provide insurance for everyone.
The House has produced a plan to replace the law, but not specific legislation, while individual lawmakers in the House and Senate have put forward their own health insurance reform bills. Republicans say they plan loosely to have a bill for President Trump to sign by the end of February, although Ryan has refused to set a hard deadline.
Dan Holler, spokesman for the conservative Heritage Action for America, said Trump will also use executive authority to prevent people from losing coverage while the nation transitions into a new system.
“Congressional Republicans are moving rapidly to repeal Obamacare and then reform the healthcare system all while providing a smooth transition for individuals,” Holler said. “Part of that effort will include lawful executive actions by the incoming administration to mitigate the impact of Obamacare’s failures.”
