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CBO Numbers Paint Brutal Image for Repealing Obamacare Without Replacement

Estimate: 18M lose coverage in first year, premiums for all jump 20-25%.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) on Tuesday released dire estimates on how repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act, without a proper replacement, would affect Americans’ health-insurance coverage. According to the study, repealing the law’s mandate penalties and subsidies would result in 18 million more uninsured people in the first new plan year following repeal. “Later, after the elimination of the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility and of subsidies for insurance purchased through the ACA marketplaces, that number would increase to 27 million, and then to 32 million in 2026,” the study continued. Additionally, health-care premiums for all U.S. customers would increase by 20 percent to 25 percent in the first year, with the increase reaching about 50 percent after the elimination of the Medicaid expansion and the subsidies. The estimates were based on the 2015 ACA repeal bill proposed by Republicans, as the GOP has yet to introduce new legislation for the current Congress. President-elect Donald Trump has demanded a repeal of Obamacare and the introduction of a replacement “quickly,” despite hesitance from party leaders over the speed at which such a feat can be accomplished.