Forty economists, including six Nobel Prize winners, have destroyed every major Republican lie about the healthcare bill in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The economists wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:
Based on our reading of the bill, we believe that the Better Care Reconciliation Act would reduce coverage nearly as much as the House bill that the Congressional Budget Office estimated would take coverage away entirely from 23 million Americans and narrow coverage for millions more. At a time when economic change is making life more difficult for all but the relatively well-to- do, denying people to access health insurance is a giant step in the wrong direction.
The Senate bill will expose millions to increased out-of-pocket health care costs. It would base tax credits on a plan with greatly increased cost sharing and deductibles that could run to
$12,000 per family or more. Far from improving Obamacare, the Senate bill would reduce assistance for the millions of people who buy coverage through the state and federal marketplaces. Many now eligible for tax credits would be denied them entirely. States would be allowed to opt out of regulations that allow less healthy people to buy insurance at reasonable rates.
The savings from slashing health subsidies and coverage would go largely to bestowing tax cuts on upper-income tax filers. The richest 0.1 percent of tax filers would receive tax cuts averaging over $200,000 per return.
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We call on Congress to work on legislation to improve the health delivery system, in general, and The Affordable Care Act, in particular. The goal should be to hold down health costs and increase access to affordable, quality health coverage for all. Unfortunately, the Better Care Reconciliation Act threatens reduced coverage and higher costs for those who continue to have it.
The forty economists who signed the letter included six Nobel Prize winners. The message from the economists has nothing to do with partisan politics. What they are discussing the true economic impact of the health care bill.
Every single one of the major lies that Republicans are telling about this legislation was debunked by the experts. People will lose their health insurance, and those who still have insurance will see their coverage narrowed. The Republican bill is going to increase costs and deductibles while reducing financial assistance for millions of people, and states will be allowed to strip protections from patients.
The Trump White House and Congressional Republicans have decided to go with a strategy of lying about what’s in the bill. The economists aren’t letting it happen. The American people need to know the truth. The Republican health care bill will do grave harm to health care system in the United States.
This letter is a must read for every American before the Senate votes later this week on healthcare.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
