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'Skinny' Obamacare Repeal May Leave 16 Million More Uninsured, CBO Estimates

By Jacob Pramuk, CNBC

27 July 17

 

version of the Obamacare repeal plan the Senate could pass this week may leave 16 million more Americans uninsured over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate requested by Senate Democrats.

Democrats on two key Senate committees asked for the score based on reported features of a "skinny" Affordable Care Act repeal. Here are those provisions, according to a Democratic spokesperson:

1. A repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate, which requires Americans to have coverage or pay a penalty


2. Scrapping the employer mandate requiring employers of a certain size to provide coverage


3. Getting rid of the medical device tax


4. Defunding women's health care provider Planned Parenthood


5. Dropping the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which invests in various health initiatives

The CBO also projected premiums would be 20 percent higher than under current law, the spokesperson said. That piece of the estimate was not included in the report the CBO released publicly on Wednesday night.

Senate Republicans are pushing to pass some form of Obamacare repeal this week after multiple efforts to follow through on the key campaign promise have stalled recently. After Republican opposition blocked separate proposals to immediately replace Obamacare or repeal it and replace during a two-year transition period, GOP senators' focus has reportedly turned to the skinny plan.

The score released Wednesday night is highly conditional. No text of a skinny repeal bill has been released. The provisions in it could be different by the time the Senate votes, and defunding Planned Parenthood, in particular, could face significant opposition.

Republicans can afford two defections and still reach the 50 votes needed to pass Obamacare repeal under the budget reconciliation process. It is unclear now if the GOP will have the support to pass a skinny repeal.

The House would still have to approve of a plan the Senate passes.

Separately on Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 10 governors wrote a letter to Senate leaders opposing a skinny repeal plan. Those include the governors of Nevada and Ohio, which are represented by GOP health-care swing votes in the Senate: Dean Heller and Rob Portman, respectively.