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GOP Health Plan Would Leave 23 Million More Uninsured, Budget Office Says

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Republicans' Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill would also reduce the deficit and leave some sick Americans unable to buy coverage.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan holds up a copy of the American Health Care Act during a news conference with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy R-Calif., (left) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) outside Ryan's office in the U.S. Capitol on March 7. / Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

The revised Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act will leave 23 million more people uninsured in 2026 than if that act, also known as Obamacare, were to remain in place. The GOP bill would also reduce the deficit by $119 billion over 10 years.

That's what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday in its latest score of the American Health Care Act. The CBO's assessment shows that the deficit would fall and premiums would fall for some Americans, but the report also raises potential concerns about the bill. The agency reports that the bill could destabilize individual insurance markets in some states, leaving unhealthy Americans unable to buy insurance.

The bill will now move on to the Senate, and should it pass that chamber, it will not, the Senate is likely to write its own version of the bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell he doesn't know what that path to passing the bill will look like.

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