House Speaker Paul Ryan, responding to a report estimate that more than 24 million Americans would be uninsured over the next 10 years if the new Republican bill passed, on Monday said, “there will be a stable transition so that no one has the rug pulled out from under them,” Talking Points Memo reports.
“I recognize and appreciate concerns about making sure people have access to coverage. Under Obamacare, we have seen how government-mandated coverage does not equal access to care, and now the law is collapsing,” Ryan said in a statement. “Our plan is not about forcing people to buy expensive, one-size-fits-all coverage. It is about giving people more choices and better access to a plan they want and can afford.”
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 52 million people would be uninsured by 2026 under the American Health Care Act, “compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law.” Many of the provisions of the Republican bill would not take effect until 2020.
Still, the CBO said effects on healthcare coverage would be felt almost instantly, with the initial drop-off in care occurring after Obamacare gets repealed by Congress. The report also estimated the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion dollars during the next 10 years and save the government $6 billion.