The United States’ House Republicans’ proposed healthcare legislation will reverse much of the progress made in the sector since the Affordable Health Care Act 2010 – better known as Obamacare – was brought into force, according to congressional analysts.
Under the new administration’s proposed American Health Care Act, 24 million people will lose their coverage ten years down the line, than if Obamacare was kept in place, the Congressional Budget Office projected in a report on Monday.
This would bring the number of uninsured Americans to 19% of the population from the current 10% a decade from now and have 14 million citizens lose their coverage within the first year, the nonpartisan CBO’s report warned, adding that the number of uninsured would rise to 52 million by 2026 compared with 28 million under Obamacare.
The analysis brings in focus President Donald Trump’s campaign promise of ensuring that no American will lose health insurance under their governance once Obamacare was repealed in its entirety. It also highlights that while premiums under the new law would be 15% to 20% higher in the first year and 10% lower after 2026, older Americans would be paying significantly higher amounts.
However, the Republican legislation’s proposals to cut spending on Medicaid – a social healthcare programme for those with limited resources in the US – and government funding for people buying insurance plans on their own would lower the federal deficit by $337 billion in the same period, according to the 37-page analysis.
The CBO study garnered mixed reactions from Republicans – while a few jumped to highlight the smaller deficit projected, others dismissed its unfavourable numbers as “absurd” and “illogical”. Democrats did not ignore the chance to point out the president’s “empty promises” of lowered costs and wider coverage.
House Republicans introduced the American Health Care Act in Congress on March 6 and have been pushing to have it approved since then. The rush comes as no surprise as Donald Trump, on his first day in office, directed government agencies to freeze certain regulations and also signed an executive order to begin the process of repealing Obamacare.
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