Campaign Action
The Congressional Budget Office has scored the latest iteration of Trumpcare, the one that McConnell couldn't bring to a vote most recently, and it's not much better than the previous version. It still takes coverage away from 15 million in the first year, 22 million over ten years. "In 2026, an estimated 82 percent of all U.S. residents under age 65 would be insured, compared with 90 percent under current law."
But, and this is key to the negotiations taking place right now, it would reduce federal deficits by $420 billion, compared to $321 billion in the previous version, because it retains some taxes. Which means Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has another $100 billion to spend on trying to bribe hold-outs. It maintains unsustainable cuts to Medicaid, $756 billion in this version compared to $772 billion in the previous one.
It also finds soaring premiums for older people: 64 year olds making $57,000 annually would see a premium hike from Obamacare's $6,750/year to $18,250/year, more than one-third of their income. The same 64-year-old making $27,000 would see their premium rise from $1,700 under Obamacare to $5,500, more than one-fifth of their annual income. But, hey, if you're 25, you get a great deal. Except that your insurance will be crap. This won't make the AARP change their minds about this bill.
About that crap, they estimate that in 2026, the deductibles in the most common plans will be $13,000. They then state the obvious, because with Republicans, you have to state the obvious. "Because a deductible of $13,000 would be a large share of their income, many people with low income would not purchase any plan even if it had very low premiums. […] Under this legislation, in 2026, that deductible would exceed the annual income of $11,400 for someone with income a 75 percent of the FPL. For people whose income was at 175 percent of the FPL ($26,500) and 375 percent of the FPL ($56,800), the deductible would constitute about a half and a quarter of their income, respectively." These are the people who will be choosing the "freedom" of not spending more than their annual income on healthcare.
Since we don't really know if this is the bill the majority leader will try to force on the floor next week, this isn't by any means what will be final. It does not include the amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) which is rumored to still be being tweaked in order to get Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to change his mind and support it. But it also means that the Senate will probably vote on something as early as Tuesday, according to McConnell's number two Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), without having a CBO score. Or with senators who know what in the hell it is they're voting on anyway.
All we need are three Republican senators to stop this destruction of Obamacare. If you have a GOP senator, we need you to call their office at (202) 224-3121 and demand that they put their constituents above their party by voting to oppose it. After the call, tell us how the call went.