Even though the CBO is respected and often cited by both Democrats and Republicans, conservatives knew that their report was going to confirm basically every horrific thing about the GOP’s plan to screw millions of Americans out of health care.
And that’s exactly what the CBO report did.
Here are a few of the main findings:
- By 2026, Trumpcare would lead to 24 million fewer people having health insurance.
- By next year, the number of uninsured Americans would be 14 million higher than under the current law.
- Typically, premiums for people buying insurance on their own would increase by 15 to 20 percent more in 2018 and 2019 than they would under the current law.
- Some states would likely discontinue their expansion for Medicaid eligibility.
- By 2026, 52 million people would be without health insurance, nearly double the projected 28 million under the current law.
- Medicaid spending would be slashed by 25 percent, with an estimated 14 million fewer people qualifying for the program.
As the New York Times also calculated:
A 64-year-old earning [$26,500] would fare much worse. That person’s $15,300 health plan would be offset by a $13,600 tax credit under current law, leaving the consumer responsible for $1,700. Under the Republican plan, health insurers would be free to charge older people more, raising that person’s premium to $19,500. But the tax credit would be only $4,900, and that person’s share of the premium would then be $14,600.
Meaning that a 64-year-old person with a low-income would end up paying nearly $13,000 more per year for insurance.
For those who don’t feel like doing the math, that means that 64-year-old person would go from paying about
6 percent of their already low income on health care to 55 percent. Realistically, they probably wouldn’t be able to afford health care at a point in their life when most people need it the most.
By all accounts, this “health care” bill is a complete and total disaster when it comes to providing, you know, actual health care. It does nothing to fulfill the GOP’s promises to make health care better and more affordable.
This is unconscionable.
Republicans like Ryan are distracting Americans by claiming this is about “providing access to care” when, in fact, it’s really nothing but a bill to give wealthy Americans a tax break and gut Medicaid.
Leave it to Republicans to support a “health care bill” they promised would “make health care better and more affordable” that literally doesn’t do any of that. Fewer people will have health care, premiums will go up (especially for the poor and older Americans), and coverage will only get worse for most.
Yet according to Ryan, it “exceeded his expectations” because, well, screwing millions of Americans out of health care and gutting Medicaid obviously doesn’t bother him. As long as he can brag about tax cuts for the rich and reducing the deficit, no matter how many poor and elderly people he has to hurt in the process, that’s a “win” in Paul Ryan’s book.
This is another prime example where Paul Ryan’s obvious disdain for the poor was on full display. That he could say a report indicating that the “health care plan” he supports would cause premiums to increase (especially on the elderly and poor), tens of millions of Americans would lose health insurance, and Medicaid would be gutted “exceeded his expectations” is absolutely repulsive.
At the end of the day, it’s indicative of the type of scumbag Paul Ryan truly is.
