Senate’s Trumpcare version would cut insurance for 22 million, abolish medical device tax

Chances for the repeal and replacement of Obamacare grew even slimmer yesterday after the Congressional Budget Office said the U.S. Senate’s version of Trumpcare would cut health insurance for millions of Americans.

Like its counterpart in the House of Representatives, the Senate bill would repeal the medical device tax as of Dec. 31 and slash the number of people enrolled in federal health insurance programs by 2026. The number of uninsured would rise by 23 million by 2026 under the House version and by 22 million under the Senate bill, according to the CBO.

The non-partisan budget office said that the Senate’s Trumpcare proposal would cut the deficit by $321 million through 2026, $202 billion more than the estimated net savings for the House version. That could provide a $188-billion cushion for negotiations, as the Senate’s rules to avoid a Democratic filibuster require that the bill cut the deficit by at least $133 billion.

Majority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) must entice 50 of his 52 Republican colleagues to sign on to the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017; before the CBO issued its score yesterday, five GOP senators had said they wouldn’t support the bill as written. Last night a sixth, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she would vote no on the bill.

The other Republican legislators pledged to oppose the bill are Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Ted Crux (R-Texas).

“If you were on the fence, if you were looking at this as a political vote, the CBO score didn’t help you,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “I think it’s going to be harder to get to 50, not easier.”

Material from Reuters was used in this report.

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