HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Republicans may soon get a preview of the political price of health reform.
Washington is braced for the expected release as soon as Monday [3-13-17] of a Congressional Budget Office analysis set to reveal the cost and projected reach — and limits — of coverage for the GOP’s bill to repeal and replace major parts of Obamacare.
If, as expected, the report warns that millions of people currently insured thanks to the Affordable Care Act could lose that coverage, it could rock the debate over the bill — already facing problems due to Republican infighting.
Democrats will be certain to frame attacks on the GOP bill, the American Health Care Act, as taking away health care from those who have it, putting the onus on Republicans to argue why people should back their efforts.
That could prove a millstone for Republican lawmakers — including in blue-collar areas that President Donald Trump won on a promise to provide better and more affordable coverage than Obamacare — in the run-up to midterm elections in 2018.”
-Stephen Collinson, “Republicans brace for CBO report of health care coverage,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, March 13, 2017