The Congressional Budget Office's devastating score of Trumpcare is kind of a slog to actually read. Just ask Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Mark Meadows! So in order to help those Republicans who didn't bother to read the bill or the CBO report, here's some of the lowlights from the report of what they voted to inflict on the public. The report House Speaker Paul Ryan says he's "actually comforted" by.
- The number of people losing insurance in the next year is 14 million, the same as in the original Trumpcare. It would force 23 million out of insurance in the next decade, 1 million fewer than the original Trumpcare. As Dylan Matthews points out it "costs $218 billion more than the original, covers 1 million more. That's $218,000 per new person insured."
- By 2026, 51 million people will be uninsured, compared to 28 million under current law—Obamacare.
- Among those uninsured, "the increase would be disproportionately larger among older people with lower income—particularly people between 50 and 64 years old with income of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level." Like, 800 percent more expensive.
- Relatedly, it would increase Medicare disproportionate-share payments to hospitals by $43 billion in the next decade, because of the costs of treating so many new uninsured patients.
- It would destabilize the individual insurance market for one-sixth of the population in the states that get the waivers to avoid providing comprehensive coverage, which would mean that premiums for people buying comprehensive plans would be unaffordable.
- It would cut $834 billion from Medicaid in the next ten years, and cut 14 million people out of Medicaid coverage.
But, hey! It would be a $663 billion tax cut over the next 10 years for the rich! That's what matters most of all to Republicans, and probably the part of this that Ryan finds particularly comforting. Well, that and fulfilling his frat-boy dream of destroying Medicaid.
Make the 23 House Republicans who voted against their constituents for this bill pay. Please give $1 to each of our funds targeting the most vulnerable House Republicans.