Skip to content
32 million
The CBO estimates that the GOP repeal-only health care bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 17 million in 2018, compared with the number under current law. That number would increase to 27 million in 2020, after the elimination of Medicaid expansion and the elimination of marketplace subsidies, and then to 32 million in 2026. In addition, average premiums in the nongroup market would increase by roughly 25% in 2018. The increase would reach about 50% in 2020, and premiums would about double by 2026.
49%
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds opposition to the Republican health bill is growing. “As the GOP-led Senate prepares to take up the measure, only 35% of voters surveyed approve of the bill passed by the House last month. Nearly half of voters, 49%, disapprove of the bill. The other 16% don’t know or don’t have an opinion, the poll shows.”
22
The Hill now counts 22 House Republicans who are opposed to the GOP health care bill. “No Democrats are expected to vote for the measure, meaning Republicans can only afford 22 defections.”
“Based on what I’ve read, it does not change my position. I was a no, and I remain a no.”
— Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA), leader of the centrist Tuesday Group, told the Washington Examiner that he still opposes the House Republican healthcare repeal bill, saying that a proposed compromise does not address his key concerns.
36 days
Washington Post: “The legislative timetable was hugely ambitious. One transition document, for example, called for Congress to complete work on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act by Feb. 24, or Day 36 of the administration. The GOP health-care bill wasn’t even introduced by that date and was pulled from a House vote last month after meeting fierce resistance, even from many Republicans.”
I have access to buying a $10 million home. I don’t have the money to do that.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), quoted by the New York Times, slamming Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) for saying that Americans would have “access” to health care insurance under a Trump administration.
“It’s a world where health insurance companies are jacking up rates, Americans are losing benefits and illness is racking the nation,” Politico reports.
“This is the apocalyptic picture of America offered by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to describe how he sees the health-care landscape after Republicans gut Obamacare. And he has found a slogan — borrowing from perhaps the most successful branding campaigns in modern political history — that he hopes to turn against the GOP repeal plan: ‘Make America Sick Again.’”
Republicans will find the task of writing their “replace” law even more agonizing than the Democrats found original passage. The party has no internal consensus on what a replacement would look like. Worse, any replacement of the law’s popular elements will require financing. But where is that money to come from? New taxes are unacceptable. The proceeds of “closing loopholes” are already spoken for — that’s how President Romney has promised to finance his promise to cut the top rate of tax 28 percent. And he’s also promised to increase defense spending.
– Republican pundit and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum.
