The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday released its complete updated cost estimate of the GOP-backed American Health Care Act, three weeks after the House narrowly passed the health-care bill. The new CBO score revealed that by 2026, an additional 23 million Americans would be uninsured under the American Health Care Act, as opposed to if ObamaCare were to remain law. In March, the CBO estimated 24 million more Americans would be uninsured by 2026; Wednesday's score takes into account amendments made to the bill by Republicans to pass it through the House.
The CBO also estimated the American Health Care Act would reduce the federal deficit over the next decade by $119 billion. When the CBO scored the GOP's first iteration of the bill in March, it estimated that the federal deficit would be reduced by $150 billion.
Premiums are projected to go up by about 20 percent in 2018 and then increase by another 5 percent in 2019, before beginning to drop, Time reported. The CBO warned that "less healthy people would face extremely high premiums, despite the additional funding" that the bill has added to reduce premiums. A last-minute amendment to the bill before the House vote allotted $8 billion in federal funding, vaguely intended to offset premium increases caused by the bill's waiver options that allow states to make certain coverage decisions.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The AHCA is currently up for debate in the Senate. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted he doesn't know how to get the simple-majority vote needed to pass the bill.
-
DHS preps for major ICE expansion, rankling local law enforcementIN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration positions ICE as the primary federal police force, its recruitment efforts have been met with a less-than-enthusiastic response
-
The return of 'Wednesday,' an 'Alien' prequel and a dramatic retelling of the Amanda Knox trial all happening in August TVthe week recommends This month's new television releases include 'Alien: Earth,' 'The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox' and a new season of 'Wednesday'
-
How does a 401(k) hardship withdrawal work and is it smart to take one?the explainer More Americans than ever are resorting to this option in a pinch
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
