Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Thoughts On The CBO's Estimates On The GOP Health Plan
The New York Times: Trumpcare Vs. Obamacare: Apocalypse Foretold
The Congressional Budget Office report on Trumpcare is out, and it’s devastating: 14 million people losing insurance in the first year, 24 million over time, with premiums soaring for older, lower-income Americans — in many cases, the very people who went strongly for President Trump. The C.B.O. thinks it would reduce the deficit, but only marginally, around $30 billion a year in a $19 trillion economy. (Paul Krugman, 3/13)
Los Angeles Times: Breaking: CBO Says 24 Million Would Lose Insurance Under GOP's Obamacare Repeal
For anyone believing in the principle that the goal of government healthcare reform should be decreasing the ranks of the uninsured, this report looks devastating. The American Health Care Act, which is the GOP’s moniker for its repeal plan, would reduce insurance coverage sharply and drive up costs. Although the CBO says premiums would moderate after a few years, it explains that would happen only because insurance benefits would shrink and deductibles and co-pays would rise. (Michael Hiltzik, 3/13)
The Washington Post: The Most Interesting Numbers In CBO’s Score Of The Republicans’ Health Care Bill (And The Policy And Politics They Imply)
Here are the findings that I found most revealing and relevant from the Congressional Budget Office’s score of the Republicans’ health care bill, followed by some brief thoughts on the policy and politics. (Jared Bernstein, 3/13)
The New York Times: Trading Health Care For The Poor For Tax Cuts For The Rich
So much for President Trump’s pledge of “insurance for everybody.” The Congressional Budget Office said on Monday that next year 14 million fewer Americans will have insurance if the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is repealed and replaced on the terms the president is seeking. That tally would rise to 21 million in 2020 and 24 million in 2026. By then, the total number of uninsured Americans would reach 52 million. (3/13)
The Washington Post: The CBO Reveals Republicans’ Health-Care Cruelty
When it comes to understanding the Republican obsession to undo Obamacare, this number is about all you need to know: 24 million. That is how many people would lose coverage under the GOP’s supposedly choice-enhancing, access-increasing replacement plan. What possible justification can there be? (3/13)
Los Angeles Times: CBO Shows How Trumpcare Would Save Billions: By Leaving Millions Uninsured
The analysis of the new House GOP bill was written by the Congressional Budget Office with help from the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. And though a top Trump administration official blasted the report as “just not believable,” some of its findings should actually help House leaders sell the bill to skeptical conservatives. In particular, Republicans will welcome estimates that the measure would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion over 10 years and, after initially driving up insurance premiums faster than current law, would lead to slower increases in later years. (Jon Healey, 3/13)
The New York Times: No Magic In How G.O.P. Plan Lowers Premiums: It Penalizes Older People
There are a lot of unpleasant numbers for Republicans in the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment of their health care bill. But congressional leadership found one to cheer: The report says that the bill will eventually cut the average insurance premiums for people who buy their own insurance by 10 percent. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 3/14)
The Wall Street Journal: CBO’s Prophecies, Demystified
The white smoke rose Monday afternoon from the Congressional Budget Office as the fiscal forecasters published their cost-and-coverage estimates of the GOP health-care reform bill. Awaiting such predictions—and then investing them with supposed clairvoyance—are Beltway rituals. (3/13)
Bloomberg: CBO Exposes Republican Penchant for Deceit
The Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Republican health-care bill did not disappoint. Republicans feared it would be catastrophic. It is. Instead of "better health care for more people at a lesser cost," as President Donald Trump promised, the nonpartisan CBO report released Monday said the Republican plan would drop 24 million from the insurance rolls by the end of the next decade -- and 14 million by 2018. (Francis Wilkinson, 3/15)
Real Clear Health: The CBO Is Right, And House Republicans Know It
The early reviews of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) have been disastrous, with doctors, hospitals, and liberal and conservative experts alike panning the House majority’s legislation. On Monday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office added its official score to the pile-on, projecting that 24 million Americans would lose health care coverage by 2026 if the bill was enacted. (Thomas Huelskoetter, 3/14)
USA Today: CBO Exposes Ryancare: Our View
The House GOP measure would greatly curtail the financial incentives for individuals to buy insurance on state exchanges while all but eliminating the penalties for not doing so. It would also scale back on Medicaid, the principal form of insurance for those on the bottom rungs of the income ladder. (3/13)
USA Today: Our Plan Offers More Choices
This report confirms that the American Health Care Act will lower premiums (starting in 2020) and improve access to quality, affordable care. CBO also finds that this legislation will provide massive tax relief, dramatically reduce the deficit, and make the most fundamental entitlement reform in more than a generation. (House Speaker Paul Ryan, 3/13)
Chicago Tribune: Fixing A Floundering Obamacare: The Next Chapter
The Congressional Budget Office weighed in Monday on the profound impact of the House Republicans' ambitious Obamacare fix. There's fuel here for both proponents and critics of the bill known as the American Health Care Act. CBO says 24 million fewer Americans would have health insurance by 2026. Why? Some would choose not to have insurance because the bill ends the mandate that people buy insurance or pay a penalty. Others would forgo insurance because of rising premiums. And many would lose coverage because of dramatic changes to Medicaid. (3/13)
San Francisco Chronicle: Don’t Repeal And Displace Affordable Care Act
Congressional Republicans need to put an immediate halt to their rush to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has given the Trump administration and House Republicans all the warning they need that they are inviting disaster if they charge ahead with a health care overhaul that would cause 24 million Americans to lose insurance in a decade — and raise premiums for those who are covered in individual markets. (3/13)
The Washington Post: Don’t Undermine The Congressional Budget Office. Use It.
Congress faces a daunting legislative agenda: Health care is “complicated,” as President Trump recently discovered. So are tax reform and spending bills that reflect campaign promises without escalating debt. There are deep divisions over many of the Trump administration’s proposals — including within the president’s own party — and there will be serious disputes about the costs of many proposals and their effects. Congress needs all the help it can get from the team of neutral experts it created for just these moments: the Congressional Budget Office. (Alice M. Rivlin, 3/13)
