Republican health plan in peril as 22 mln set to lose coverage

Senate Republicans watched support for their Obamacare repeal bill slide into perilous territory after release of a non-partisan report forecasting that the plan would leave 22 million more Americans uninsured by 2026.

The legislation introduced last week by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was already in jeopardy, despite expressed optimism by President Donald Trump.

With Democrats uniting in opposition to the draft, Republican leaders have struggled to rally enough support from within their ranks to get the bill over the line.

McConnell has said he wants a final vote on the bill Friday, before a brief recess for lawmakers for the July 4 Independence Day holiday, but some in the party have balked at the short timeline.

The report by the Congressional Budget Office will no doubt sow deeper concerns about the viability of the legislation, which is aimed at fulfilling Trump's pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, the landmark reform of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.

"The Senate bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law," the CBO said in its much-anticipated report.

The estimated increase in the number of uninsured under the bill that passed the House of Representatives last month was 23 million.

According to the CBO, the Senate legislation would also slash federal spending by some $321 billion over the 2017-2026 period, a net savings of $202 billion over the House measure.

The CBO said that the bill's abolition of the provision requiring individuals to have insurance would lead to 15 million more uninsured people next year alone.

It also warned that some insurance premiums for individuals would be 20 percent higher next year than under current law, mainly because eliminating mandated coverage would prompt comparatively fewer healthy people to sign up.

The White House quickly dismissed the CBO report, citing what it called its "history of inaccuracy." Five Senate Republicans publicly opposed the bill as drafted, even before the new CBO score.

After the score's release, the prospect for advancing the bill was in doubt, as two Republican senators, Rand Paul and Susan Collins, said they would not vote for a motion to proceed to the legislation.

Should three Republicans join all Democrats in opposition, the bill would stall in the Senate unless McConnell returns with enough changes to draw some back on board.

"I want to work w/ my GOP & Dem colleagues to fix the flaws in ACA," Collins, a moderate from Maine, said on Twitter, in a noteworthy expression of support for fixing, and not replacing, Obamacare.

"CBO analysis shows Senate bill won't do it. I will vote no on mtp (motion to proceed)."

With Republicans in a 52-48 majority, McConnell can afford only two defectors. In the event of a tie, Vice President Mike Pence would still give Republicans a win.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)