Morning Roundup: "GOP Scrambles" Edition
This morning’s headlines show the GOP in disarray now that the consequences of the repeal bill have been unveiled – and it’s clear President Trump is breaking his promise to provide “insurance to everybody.” Here’s a look at how their #PayMoreforLess bill is playing out:
Politico: GOP scrambles after scorching health bill appraisal:
“House Republican leaders plunged into damage control mode Monday after a brutal budgetary assessment of their Obamacare replacement threatened to upend Senate GOP support and armed their critics on the left.”
“That’s to say nothing of centrists spooked by the CBO results. Though conservatives have been the most vocally resistant to the plan so far, the new figures underscore the danger that moderate Republicans who hail from states that embraced Obamacare’s massive Medicaid expansion face if they support the bill.”
‘’Can’t sugarcoat it. Doesn’t look good,’ said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). ‘The CBO score was, shall we say, an eye-popper.’”
The Hill: CBO health score stirs alarm in the Senate:
“GOP senators stressed that they were still digesting the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis but signaled that they expect the House bill will likely need to be changed in light of the report.”
“’At the end of the day we should pause and try to improve the product in the light of the CBO analysis rather than just rejecting it,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters.
“Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he would wait until the House finishes changing the legislation to make a final decision, but said he was ‘always’ concerned about individuals losing their health insurance.”
“… Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said the CBO's findings should be a ‘cause for alarm’ for lawmakers.”
NBC News: Trump’s Backing a Healthcare Plan That Breaks His Promises
“President Donald Trump rode to the White House making big promises on health care — pledges that he is now in serious danger of breaking.”
“So now that the House GOP's American Health Care Act (AHCA) is here, how do these pledges look?”
“Not good, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released on Monday. The report found the House plan — which the Trump administration has thrown its support behind — would cause millions to lose insurance and raise costs for vulnerable populations.”
The Atlantic: The CBO Deals Paul Ryan’s Health-Care Plan a Major Blow
“With the new projection, congressional Republicans are sure to face more accusations that the bill breaks President Trump’s promise of “insurance for everybody” and the party’s explicit vow that its replacement would “decrease premiums.”
Huffington Post: Devastating CBO Report Exposes The Empty Promises Of Obamacare Repeal
“Monday’s report by the Congressional Budget Office revealed that boast ― and seven years of similar Republican arguments ― to be fraudulent. It also called into question whether the GOP’s real mission with repeal is to help people get health care ― or simply to shrink government programs, reduce taxes and protect the haves at the expense of the have-nots.”
TIME: President Trump Made 3 Big Promises on Health Care. The Budget Office Just Undercut All of Them
“But the estimate also means that, if the bill becomes policy and the CBO's conjectures are accurate, President Trump, who has voiced his support for it, will be breaking several promises he made to the American people about health care.”
New Republic: The Incredible Cruelty of Trumpcare
“Republicans claim that Trumpcare is a simple matter of keeping their promise to repeal Obamacare. But if keeping promises were their guiding principle, they wouldn’t be ignoring the other ones they and President Donald Trump made: to preserve coverage gains and lower costs, thereby taking care of people on the flip side of repeal. They are attempting to break those promises as swiftly and completely as possible, and at the expense not mainly of liberal Obamacare supporters, but of the very voters most inclined to have believed the lies.”