CBO estimates GOP health plan would leave 24 million more uninsured than ObamaCare by 2026

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Monday released its cost estimate for the American Health Care Act, the Republican proposal to replace ObamaCare. The CBO's report says that the GOP plan would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion by 2026, with the most savings coming from "reductions in outlays for Medicaid and from the elimination of the Affordable Care Act's subsidies for non-group health insurance."

In that same time, however, the AHCA would result in 24 million more Americans going uninsured; by 2026, the CBO estimates that 52 million people would lack insurance under the GOP plan, compared to 28 million who would go uninsured under ObamaCare. Overall, the CBO estimates millions would progressively lose insurance under the AHCA:

CNN's Jeremy Diamond noted that premiums would go on a bit of a roller coaster ride under the American Health Care Act, increasing by as much as 20 percent before 2020 before eventually dropping to 10 percent lower than under ObamaCare by 2026. The Washington Post's Greg Sargent pointed out the CBO's projection that AHCA rules would allow insurers to charge five times more for older enrollees than younger ones, "substantially reducing premiums for young adults and substantially raising premiums for older people."

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NBC News' Benjy Sarlin called the report "basically apocalyptic" for the GOP. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn had said the CBO should focus on health-care affordability rather than the number of insured. President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have vowed to push the bill through, with Ryan tweeting shortly after the CBO's release that the "report confirms it: [The] American Health Care Act will lower premiums and improve access to quality, affordable care." Read the CBO's full report here.