22 Million More Americans Could Be Uninsured By 2026

Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 22 million more Americans could be uninsured by 2026 under the Senate Republican health care bill. It found that if the bill becomes law, the federal deficit would be decreased by $321 billion over the next ten years, mainly as a result of cuts to Medicaid. That represents a very slight improvement on May when the same agency found that 23 million people would lose their coverage while the federal deficit would be reduced by $119 billion over the same time period.

Compared to the current health law, 15 million more Americans would be uninsured as soon as next year, with the old and the poor accounting for a substantial amount of those losing their coverage. By 2026, the total number of uninsured Americans is predicted to spiral to 49 million. Under Obamacare, an estimated 28 million people would be uninsured in 2026 by comparison. Mitch McConnnell has postponed the vote on the controversial legislation until after the July 4th recess due to a number of defections. He wants more time to win support for the plan while President Trump hosted a meeting with all GOP senators on Tuesday in an attempt to discuss the way forward.