GOP Health Bill Would Leave 52 Million Uninsured

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) just took to the House floor to decry the Democrats’ health reform bill because, she said, it would leave too many folks uninsured. She must not have read the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the GOP’s legislative alternative, which, CBO found, would leave 52 million nonelderly Americans uninsured in 2019 — about 6 million more than are uninsured today. 

The GOP bill, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said last night, would cut federal deficit spending by $68 billion over the next decade, while “reducing the number of nonelderly people without health insurance by about 3 million in 2019 and leaving about 52 million nonelderly residents uninsured. The share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage in 2019—83 percent—would be roughly in line with the current share.”

The House is expected to vote Saturday night on the Democrats’ $894 billion health reform bill. Whipping up support for that proposal, President Obama will make an appearance at the Capitol tomorrow, Roll Call reports.