Secret White House Analysis Showed Even More Losing Care

Even as the White House rejected a CBO scoring of the House GOP Obamacare repeal bill, a secret White House analysis showed an even higher number of Americans would lose health insurance coverage under the bill. According to a document first reported Monday evening by Politico, an internal executive branch analysis showed that 26 million Americans would lose their coverage, two million more than the estimate of 24 million released earlier in the day by the CBO.

The White House analysis found that 17 million Americans would lose coverage from cuts to Medicaid, 6 million more from Obamacare marketplaces and an additional 3 million currently covered by employer-based plans.

Earlier in the day Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price called the CBO estimate “not believable.” “We disagree strenuously with the report that was put out. We believe that our plan will cover more individuals at a lower cost and give them the choices they want for the coverage that they want for themselves and their families, not that the government forces them to buy,” Price told reporters outside the White House.

While it was widely expected that the CBO report would show millions would lose their insurance under the House GOP American Health Care Act, the 24 million number was considerably higher than most observers expected. Republican Senators expressed shock at what one called the “awful” CBO score.