DeGette: CBO Score Shows Trumpcare Bill is Ill-Advised, Full of Broken Promises

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), Chief Deputy Whip, said the newest assessment by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of the Trumpcare bill that the House passed last month proves that the bill is ill-advised and full of broken promises to the American people.

"Trumpcare is bad news for a lot of people, as the CBO has shown yet again," DeGette said. "If this bill becomes law, it will ration care and put insurance companies back in charge. Millions of people will lose their coverage while the cost for others will go up – including those covered through employer plans. People can expect higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs for skimpy coverage that in many cases won't include essential services such as maternity care and treatment for mental health and substance abuse. And those over age 50 will pay even more – that is, if they can afford the age tax that this plan would impose.

"President Trump promised that no American would lose health insurance under his plan and that he wouldn't cut Medicare or Medicaid. This bad bill breaks those promises and spells disaster for countless Americans."

Among other findings, the CBO said the bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act would cause 23 million people to lose health insurance over 10 years – 14 million of them in the first year alone. The CBO also said that some low-income older adults could be forced to pay $13,6000 to $16,000 out of their own pocket for premiums. By comparison, the same people pay approximately $1,700 to cover their premiums under the Affordable Care Act.

The CBO noted that millions of Americans live in states that, under Trumpcare, could waive certain requirements under the ACA, including the coverage of essential health benefits, and about one-third of Americans would lose the protections now afforded by the ACA to people with pre-existing conditions.

The assessment also confirmed once again that, contrary to claims by President Trump and some congressional Republicans, the Affordable Care Act is not in "a death spiral." The CBO specifically noted that "substantial uncertainty" about whether the Trump Administration will continue to pay cost-sharing reduction payments could cause health plans to withdraw from the market under current law. In other words, efforts to sabotage the ACA through loose talk from the President on down are working in some areas, at the expense of the American people and their pocketbooks.

"The onus is now on the Senate to prevent this damage," DeGette said. "It was dangerously irresponsible for House Republican leaders to ram this bill through the House for a vote with no CBO score. If Republicans really want to provide better health care for Americans, they should work with Democrats on making improvements to the ACA rather than dismantling or sabotaging it."