The US Senate bill overhauling Obamacare would result in 22 million fewer Americans with health insurance by 2026 and $772 billion less in Medicaid spending if it becomes law, according to a heavily-anticipated estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The nonpartisan analyst tasked with understanding the impact of major legislation also said the bill would remove 15 million additional people from the insurance roles in its first year, while cutting the Federal deficit by $321 billion over a decade.The CBO's report on the expected impact of the Senate bill is fairly similar to its analysis of the House of Representatives's bill, which predicted 24 million people would lose coverage and older, poorer Americans would see sharp increases in costs. That report—along with widespread unpopularity of the House bill—helped prompt congressional Republicans to give up on passing the first iteration of the law in late March. (Though the House subsequently passed a slightly modified version of the bill in May.)Continue reading on VICE News.
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