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 The Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan group of experts who
analyze U.S. legislation, said the bill would reduce federal
deficits by $119 billion between 2017 and 2026.
The report could give added ammunition to Democrats who have accused
President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans of putting sick
and low-income people at risk with their effort to roll back former
President Barack Obama's signature 2010 healthcare law, formally
known as the Affordable Care Act but often called Obamacare.
The report also complicates the job of Senate Republicans - some of
whom already have doubts about the House bill - as they craft their
own healthcare legislation.
Republicans have sought to unravel Obamacare since its passage and
Trump promised on the campaign trail to repeal it, saying it is too
costly and an overreach by government in the healthcare market.
As Trump and Republican leaders sought to bring wavering lawmakers
on board with the House bill, they added a controversial last-minute
amendment that would give states leeway to drop an Obamacare
requirement that forces insurers to charge sick and healthy people
the same insurance rates.
Another change would allow states to decide whether to require
insurers to cover health benefits such as maternity care and
prescription drugs that are mandatory under current law.
But the CBO report said the amendment would make it difficult or
impossible for people in poor health to purchase comprehensive
coverage in some states.
"People who are less healthy (including those with preexisting or
newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to
purchase comprehensive non-group health insurance at premiums
comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at
all," the CBO report said.
The CBO said markets for people to buy individual insurance plans
could then become "unstable" in states that choose to waive the
Obamacare requirements for coverage of pre-existing medical
conditions and essential health benefits.
Even before the report, many Republican senators were wary of the
House version of the healthcare bill, saying it unraveled Obamacare
too much and too quickly. About 20 million people gained insurance
under Obamacare.
The House bill would eliminate most Obamacare taxes that help
subsidize private health coverage for individuals, roll back the
government's Medicaid health plan for the poor and disabled and
replace the law's income-based tax credits for buying medical
coverage with credits based on age.
A group of 13 Republican senators led by Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell is expected to draft its own version of the
healthcare bill in the coming months. McConnell, however, told
Reuters on Wednesday he does not yet know how Republicans will get
the necessary votes.
"This is a very challenging undertaking," McConnell said.
REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION
After the release of the CBO report, several Republican senators
said they could not support the House bill.
"While I am in favor of repealing Obamacare, I am opposed to the
American Health Care Act in its current form," Republican Senator
Dean Heller said in a statement.
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Republican Senator Susan Collins said too many people would lose
insurance and that older and low-income Americans would be hurt.
House Republicans, who argue their healthcare bill would allow
insurance markets to function more efficiently, focused on the
projected budget savings from it and a finding in the CBO report
that said insurance premiums for some people would decline.
Groups representing hospitals, insurers and doctors who opposed the
House bill said the CBO report showed the Senate should start fresh
with an eye to maintaining coverage and benefits.
Democrats also blasted the bill and said the CBO report proved it
would be catastrophic for millions of people who would lose health
insurance.
"The report makes clear Trumpcare would be a cancer on the American
healthcare system," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at a
news conference.
The new CBO score predicts the AHCA would cover 1 million more
Americans than Republicans' previous version of the bill, which the
agency estimated would have left 24 million more people uninsured
than Obamacare in 2026.
To allay concerns about coverage of people with pre-existing
illnesses, House Republicans allocated an additional $8 billion over
five years in their bill to help sick people pay for insurance
premiums but the CBO said the money would not be enough to help them
afford coverage.
The CBO said premiums would fall for younger people and rise for
older people in states that did not waive Obamacare requirements for
an overall decline of about 4 percent. In states that made moderate
changes to their markets, representing about one-third of the U.S.
population, premiums would fall 20 percent on average.
Reaction on Wall Street was muted, with shares of hospitals affected
by the cuts to Medicaid, like Community Health Systems, and health
insurers specializing in Medicaid, such as Molina Healthcare <MOH.N>
and Centene Corp <CNC.N> unchanged in light after-hours trading.
The Republicans' first attempt at undoing Obamacare this year
resulted in a setback for the Trump agenda in March. Conservative
and moderate Republican factions in the House were opposed to the
initial legislation and the leadership decided not to put it up for
a vote.
(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Additional reporting by Caroline
Humer; Editing by Caren Bohan and Bill Trott)
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