McCarthy Says AHCA Will ‘Increase Access,’ Glosses Over Drop In Coverage

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., followed by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., head to a meeting with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, before President Donald Tr... House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., followed by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., head to a meeting with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, before President Donald Trump's speech to the nation. A month into the new administration, the GOP is discovering the difficulties of making good on its promises on repealing Obama's health care law, and other issues. House Speaker Paul Ryan says he isn't frustrated though on Trump's lack of detailed direction, saying "I see him as more of a chairman." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Monday that the Republican bill to repeal Obamacare “will empower Americans with access, choice and affordability.” He avoided any mention of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the bill would leave millions more people uninsured.

“This report by the CBO confirms that this first phase of health care reform, the American Health Care Act, uses conservative and free-market principles that will empower Americans with access, choice and affordability,” McCarthy said in a statement.

The CBO estimated that 14 million would lose coverage by 2018, just in time for the midterm elections, with a total of 24 million people losing their insurance over the next 10 years under House Republicans’ bill.

McCarthy did not mention those estimates in his statement. He instead railed against Obamacare, which he claimed “continues to collapse under its own weight,” and promised that the next stages of Republican health care legislation “will only further reduce costs and increase access to health care.”

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  1. McCarthy has re-defined the old saw about whistlin’ past the graveyard!

    Hah! Avoiding the CBO’s numbers doesn’t quite cut it. Watch this bill fail…spectacularly!

  2. Damn liars. They’ve just decided to get theirs…wow.

  3. “Access to health care” is what you have when you don’t have health care.

    Asswipe.

  4. Well, what can I say? Kevin McCarthy is a toady, a dumb shit! That’s the bottom line on him.

  5. they should have to define access when making this statement.

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