June 26, 2017

“You’re not gonna get 49. You’re either gonna get 50 or probably 35.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Vox, adding that the CBO estimates on the GOP health care bill “are going to make it harder to get to 50, not easier.”

“The Senate bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act was edging toward collapse on Monday after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it would increase the number of people without health insurance by 22 million by 2026,” the New York Times reports.

“Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, said Monday that they would vote against even debating the health care bill, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin hinted he, too, would probably oppose taking up the bill on an expected procedural vote as early as Tuesday, meaning a collapse could be imminent.”

Said Paul: “It’s worse to pass a bad bill than pass no bill.”

Sarah Kliff: “The CBO report is a dense 49-page document that you can read here. But you can find its clearest explanation of the Senate bill on page 48. This is where the CBO report explains how premiums would change for low- and middle-income Americans — and what type of health insurance they would get for those monthly payments.”

“This page shows, in no uncertain terms, that low-income Americans would be asked to pay higher premiums for worse health insurance coverage.”

A new CBO report says the Senate bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act “would increase the number of people without health insurance by 22 million by 2026, a figure that is only slightly lower than the 23 million more uninsured that the House version would create,” the New York Times reports.

“Next year, 15 million more people would be uninsured compared with current law… The legislation would decrease federal deficits by a total of $321 billion over a decade.”

Washington Post: “The CBO’s analysis has been awaited as a crucial piece of evidence as McConnell and other Republican leaders try to hurry a vote on the bill this week. But they are navigating an expanding minefield of resistance from their own party’s moderate and conservative wings, while Democrats are united against it.”

Medical Debt Hub: “The 17% who name healthcare costs as their family’s most pressing financial problem is up seven percentage points since 2013 and is just two points shy of the all-time high of 19% recorded in 2007.”

One of the nation’s largest healthcare lobbying groups Monday announced its opposition to the Senate’s ObamaCare repeal plan, warning that it could hurt the “most vulnerable citizens,” The Hill reports.

Said the American Medical Association: “Medicine has long operated under the precept of Primum non nocere, or ‘first, do no harm.’ The draft legislation violates that standard on many levels.”