House Should Postpone Health Vote Until CBO Score

House leadership is reportedly considering making significant changes to the American Health Care Act (AHCA), including repeal of the essential health benefits standard and other insurance regulations. These changes would be in addition to ones previously released as part of the manager’s amendments, which have not yet been scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, issued the following statement urging a new score from the CBO before the vote:

Americans wouldn’t make a major purchase like a car or home without reading the fine print, and Congress shouldn’t pass a bill remaking the American health care system without knowing the cost.

A new CBO score incorporating all changes must be provided before the House begins consideration of the bill.

Congress should not have to pass the bill to find out how much it will cost.

###
 
For more information contact Patrick Newton, Press Secretary, at newton@crfb.org.

Trending

Blog

Student Loans Cost $340 Billion More than Expected

Based in part on new data from the Congressional Budget Office, this piece shows: The estimated federal cost of student loans issued between 2015 and 2024 has increased by $340 billion – from a projected gain of $135 billion in the 2014 baseline to an expected loss of $205 billion in the 2024 baseline. Much of the cost increase can be explained by the expansion and increased enrollment in income-driven repayment (IDR). In forward projections, graduate school loans are now nearly as subsidized as undergraduate loans and make up half of the cost of newly issued student loans. Reforming graduate loans to be cost-neutral would generate over $100 billion in deficit reduction over the next decade.

Read more

What's Next