Health Bill Would Raise Uninsured by 24 Million but Save $337 Billion, Report Says -
By THOMAS KAPLANMARCH 13, 2017
WASHINGTON — The House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would raise the number of people without health insurance by 24 million within a decade, but would trim $337 billion from the federal deficit over
that time, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Monday.
“And when you replace that with, ‘We’re going to have a free market
and you buy what you want to buy,’ they’re going to say not nearly as many people are going to do that.”
assessment was released, Mr. Trump lauded the Republican health plan Monday at the beginning of
a discussion with people the White House described as “victims” of the Affordable Care Act.
was right about Obamacare to begin with, there’d be 8 million more people on Obamacare today than there actually are,” President Trump’s budget
director, Mick Mulvaney, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” He added, “Sometimes we ask them to do stuff they’re not capable of doing.”
The number of people who have signed up for insurance through the health law’s exchanges is lower than expected, in part
because employers did not drop coverage to the extent that had been anticipated.
While people would not face a penalty for not buying insurance, Republicans would put in place a new provision to encourage continuous coverage: People
would face a 30 percent surcharge in their premiums if they signed up for insurance after having gone without it for about two months or more.