Independent Analysis Reveals Measure Would Also Slash $880 Billion from Medicaid
Washington – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office score of the House Republicans’ “American Health Care Act,” should give pause to the Senate in considering a bill that endangers vital health care coverage of millions of Americans in every region of the country. The CBO analysis shows that 24 million would lose health care coverage within a decade, and that $880 billion would be cut from Medicaid.
“The House bill, as the CBO score so painfully reveals, would harm the most vulnerable, while wealthier Americans benefit,” National Health Law Program (NHeLP) Executive Director Elizabeth G. Taylor said. “On the campaign trail, Donald Trump said no American would lose health care coverage in a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but that is exactly what would happen if this bill becomes law. We hope the president and lawmakers in the Senate reject this regressive measure.”
NHeLP Managing Attorney of the DC Office Mara Youdelman said Congress should refocus on acting to bolster the health care system.
“There is work to be done to ensure low-income people – a disproportionate number of whom are women, children, people with disabilities, and people of color – retain access to vital health care. According to the CBO analysis of the Republican House bill, health care of many Americans would be significantly limited,” Youdelman said. “The analysis brings light to the cold truth – the bill provides tax breaks for a small group of wealthy individuals at the expense of providing basic health care to people in need.”
Youdelman added, “Despite conservative Republicans’ rhetoric, the ACA is a success as is Medicaid. Both are popular and a recent Kaiser Health News tracking poll shows that more than 65 percent of Americans like Medicaid as is and do not support capping its funding. The popular mandate is for improving the ACA, not for destroying it.”
NHeLP has published the following material providing analysis of repealing the ACA and changing the structure of Medicaid funding.
Medicaid Expansion and the Republicans’ ACA Repeal Bill
What Makes Medicaid, Medicaid? — Affordability
Evaluating Medicaid Block Grant & Per Capita Cap Proposals
What Makes Medicaid, Medicaid? Services
Medicaid Caps: The Threat Below the Surface
Threats to the Affordable Care Act and Women’s Reproductive Health
Congressional Plans to Repeal the ACA Will Harm Victims of Black Lung
How Efforts to Transform Medicaid Could Affect Abortion Coverage
Protect Medicaid Funding Series
50 Reasons Medicaid Expansion is Good for Your State
The Impact President Trump’s Executive Order on the ACA
Ten Ways the ACA Helps Older Adults and People with Disabilities
Medicaid & the ACA: Vital Tools in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic
Please contact Jeremy Leaming at [email protected] or 202-552-5176 for further comment regarding the political efforts to undo health care reform and the Medicaid guarantee.
NHeLP, founded in 1969, advocates for the rights of low-income and underserved people to access quality health care.
