GOP Health Plan Would Leave 23 Million More Uninsured, Budget Office Says 
 
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 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 new score, which reflects last-minute revisions that Republicans made to win over several conservative lawmakers and a handful of moderates, calculates that the American Health Care Act would reduce the federal deficit by $119 billion between 2017 and 2026. As GOP senators quickly distanced themselves from the updated numbers, what became apparent is the difficult balancing act congressional leaders face as they seek to rewrite large portions of the Affordable Care Act. Some senators are eager to soften portions of the House bill, including cuts to entitlement programs and provisions that would allow insurers in individual states to offer fewer benefits in their health plans or to charge consumers with costly medical conditions higher premiums. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who did not issue a statement in response to the new budget score, suggested in an interview with Reuters that he still harbored doubts over whether his party could muster enough votes to pass any kind of health-care bill this year. “I don’t know how we get to 50 [votes] at the moment,” he said, referring to a situation in which Vice President Pence would cast the deciding vote. “But that’s the goal.” 
 
 To avoid a filibuster by Democrats, Senate Republicans plan to take the bill up under budget reconciliation rules — which only require a majority vote but mean the legislation cannot increase the federal deficit within a 10-year window. Some, like Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), said the CBO score would have no impact on his chamber’s efforts to write its own bill. “Doing nothing is not an option.” 
 
 Instead of addressing the future number of uninsured Americans under the Republican plan — projected to immediately jump in 2018 by 14 million — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday chose to focus on the CBO’s estimate that premiums overall would fall under the AHCA. “It is another positive step toward keeping our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.” 
 
 Congressional analysts concluded that one change to the House bill aimed at lowering premiums, by allowing states to opt out of some current insurance requirements, would encourage some employers to maintain coverage for their workers and get younger, healthier people to buy plans on their own. But those gains would be largely offset by consumers with preexisting conditions, who would face higher premiums than they do now. "Over time, it would become more difficult for less healthy people (including people with preexisting medical conditions) in those states to purchase insurance because their premiums would continue to increase rapidly," the CBO wrote. The CBO estimated that states seeking waivers to strip the ACA’s “essential health benefits” would affect roughly one-sixth of the population and that obtaining maternity coverage outside a basic plan, for example, “could be more than $1,000 per month.” 
 
 But Rep. John Faso (R-N.Y.), who supported the House bill, called the CBO’s assumption that waivers would affect that many Americans “grossly wrong.” 
 
 “Frankly I doubt any state would try to take advantage of that provision,” he said. The AHCA’s proposal to cut spending on Medicaid — a federal program that covers roughly 69 million Americans — by $834 billion over the next decade is the thorniest political issue facing the Senate, Antos said. But it's impossible to make a meaningful blanket statement about how premiums would change under this bill, as those changes differ vastly for different groups of people.
– The American Health Care Act passed by House Republicans earlier this month will reduce the deficit by $119 billion over the next decade—while leaving 23 million more Americans without insurance than if ObamaCare remains in place, according to the Congressional Budget Office's score of the bill released Wednesday. NPR reports that while premiums could go down for some people under the AHCA, the CBO warns of "extremely high premiums" for people with preexisting conditions. Insurance could also be thousands of dollars more expensive for people who are pregnant or have issues with addiction or mental health. The AHCA would reduce the deficit by cutting Medicaid by $884 billion and subsidies for individual health insurance by $276 billion. Whether or not insurance premiums go up for Americans under the AHCA depends partly on what state they live in. The AHCA allows for states to get waivers that would lower premiums by allowing cheaper plans that don't cover "major medical risks." But it also largely depends on age, as Vox explains. A 64-year-old making $26,500 a year would pay between $13,600 and $16,100 for insurance under the AHCA, depending on if their state gets waivers. That's up from $1,700 under ObamaCare. A 64-year-old making $68,200 would also see their premiums increase if they live in a state that doesn't get the waivers. That's because the AHCA allows insurers to charge older people up to five times as much as younger people. The Washington Post reports the Senate is unlikely to pass the AHCA as it stands and is working on its own bill.