As bad as the CBO analysis is — I’m calling TrumpCare ‘Dead Plan Walking’— it turns out that HHS Secretary Price lied through his teeth. Here’s what Politico is reporting:
The executive branch analysis forecast that 26 million people would lose coverage over the next decade, versus the 24 million CBO estimate — a finding that undermines White House efforts to discredit the forecasts from the nonpartisan CBO.
Seriously? Here’s what Price had to say after the CBO report came out:
“So we disagree strenuously with the report that was put out. We believe that our plan will cover more individuals at a lower cost and give them the choices they want for the coverage that they want for themselves and their families, not that the government forces them to buy,” he told reporters outside the White House.
Now, we have to keep in mind that Dr. Tom is trying to talk about the combined effect of the ‘3 stage’ process, which consists of:
- Stage 1: The AHCA, which kicks 24 (or 26) million people off health insurance and cuts Medicaid spending by about $800 billion over 10 years. This bill can be passed by 51 votes in the Senate.
- Stage 2: A bunch of as-yet undefined ‘administrative changes’ that will be dreamt up and put in place by Dr. Tom Price at HHS. Wanna bet whether those changes will help people get insurance?
- Stage 3: As-yet undefined legislation that will need 60 votes to pass in the Senate.
Looks like Dr. Tom has drunk deeply from the ‘magical kool-aid’, just like Rience and KellyAnn and Spicey and Pence and the rest of the White House gang.
Oh, and here’s another deadly number: 17,000
That’s how many people this analysis from ThinkProgress calculates could die in 2018 if TrumpCare is enacted.
And the number would rise each year, all the way to 29,000 in 2026, when the number of people who have lost their health insurance reaches 24 or 26 million.
These are people who don’t need to die, and who won’t die if ObamaCare isn’t repealed.
Look, I understand that Paul Ryan and his ilk really, really want the poor and elderly and disabled and other ‘takers’ to just die off, leaving the country for the heroic ‘makers’— that’s basic Ayn Rand — but up till now he’s at least been cagey about it.
Now he’s dropped every pretense of caring and is blatantly showing his true colors… and what I see ain’t pretty at all. Here’s Speaker Paul Ryan’s take on the CBO report:
“I think if you read this entire report, I’m pretty encouraged by it, and it actually exceeded my expectations,” Ryan told Fox News.
“We’re saying the government’s not going to force people to buy something they don’t want to buy,” he added. “And if we end an Obamacare mandate that says you must buy this government, one-size-fits-all plan, guess what, people aren’t going to buy that. So, of course, they’re going to suggest that if we’re not going to make people do something they don’t want to do, they’re not going to do it.”
Ok, Paul, I get it: If you end the ObamaCare mandate….. and take away most of the subsidies, especially for older people…… and slash spending on Medicaid by over $800 billion…… then people are going to ‘choose’ not to have health insurance….. because….. FREEDOM!!!
I can’t go on, because if I do, I’m going to end up accusing Paul Ryan of WANTING to kill all those people who are going to die needlessly if TrumpCare passes…… and I don’t want to do that….. yet.
With a little luck, this will go down as the day that TrumpCare died.
Cheers.