The Republican health care plan that passed the House earlier this month would leave 23 million more Americans without health insurance over the next decade than the current law and would reduce the deficit by $119 billion, according to an analysis released by the Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday.
The findings are similar to a CBO score of an earlier version of the bill spiked by Republican leaders earlier this year due to lack of support. House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act three weeks ago without a new analysis from the nonpartisan office, but a CBO analysis of an earlier version of the legislation found the new law would result in leaving 24 million more Americans without health insurance within a decade.
Significant changes were made to the original bill to help push it through the House. Notable among them was a provision that would allow states to opt-out of mandatory coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. The report estimates that people who live those states opting out of the protections would see major rate hikes and may be prevented from purchasing insurance at all. In addition, those who live in states opting out of essential health benefit coverage may additionally pay thousands more for services like maternity care, mental health and drug treatment.
The analysis also found that by 2026, “an estimated 51 million people under age 65 would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law.”
