WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the House GOP health care bill (all times EDT):
6:30 p.m.
Democratic leaders in Congress say new projections of the impact of Republicans’ health insurance bill should be a “knockout blow.”
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says Speaker Paul Ryan should pull the bill from consideration, saying, “It’s really the only decent thing to do.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the report from the Congressional Budget Office demonstrates that the bill means higher costs and less coverage for consumers.
Monday’s estimate by the CBO says that under the GOP proposal now moving through the House, there would be 24 million more people uninsured by 2026 than under current law.
The Democrats say White House criticism of the CBO report fits a disturbing pattern. Schumer says, “When they hear something they don’t like, they label it a lie.”
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5:50 p.m.
The Congressional Black Caucus is calling the Republican health care plan a “disaster” after the release of the Congressional Budget Office’s report.
The CBO says 14 million Americans would lose coverage next year under House Republican legislation remaking the nation’s health care system. Congress’ budget analysts say that figure would grow to 24 million by 2026.
Rep. Cedric Richmond is a Democratic congressman from Louisiana and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. He says “Republicans need to come up with a plan that actually makes insurance affordable, or work with Democrats to improve the Affordable Care Act.”
President Donald Trump backs the GOP plan.
Richmond says the GOP plan will make “health care unaffordable for tens of millions of Americans.”
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5:10 p.m.
The White House says it disagrees “strenuously” with a budget analysis of the Republican health care plan.
Health Secretary Tom Price says it will cover more individuals and lower costs.
Congress’ nonpartisan budget analysts projected Monday that 14 million Americans would lose coverage next year under House Republican legislation remaking the nation’s health care system. The Congressional Budget says that figure would grow to 24 million by 2026.
But Price says the administration disagrees “strenuously with the report that was put out.”
Price complained the CBO only looked at the House bill, and not the two other parts of their three-phase plan.
As for the estimate that 14 million people would lose coverage, he says, “It’s just not believable is what we would suggest.”
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4:50 p.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is defending the GOP health care bill as budget analysts project that 14 million people would lose coverage next year and 24 million in the next decade.
Ryan is focusing on lower premiums and improved “access to quality, affordable care” in a statement Monday.
The Wisconsin Republican says the Congressional Budget Office analysis does not take into account additional steps the GOP-led Congress and Trump administration would take to lower costs and increase choices.
Ryan is rejecting what he calls the one-size-fits-all coverage of the Affordable Care Act, the existing law passed under Barack Obama in 2010.
He says the GOP bill is about giving Americans more choices and better access to plans they want and can afford.
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4:20 p.m.
Nonpartisan analysts project that 14 million people would lose coverage next year under the House bill dismantling former President Barack Obama’s health care law. The estimate is a blow to Republicans.
Monday’s estimate by the Congressional Budget Office says there would be 24 million more people uninsured by 2026 than under current law.
The projections give fuel to opponents who warn the measure would toss millions of voters off insurance plans. Criticism has come from Democrats, Republicans from states that benefit from Obama’s law and many corners of the health-care industry.
President Donald Trump backs the GOP plan.
Republican leaders have said their aim is to lower costs. They say coverage statistics are misleading because many people covered under Obama’s law have high out-of-pocket costs that make health care unaffordable.
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