“The bill here is the framework, it’s a really nice framework. We like it. It’s a good repeal and replacement bill,” said Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney, S.C., according to the report. He added that there is no reason to rush the plan.
“This is the bill the president has looked at and said, ‘Yes, this is what will work,'” he said, according to the report. “If the House thinks they can make it a little better, if the Senate thinks they can make it a little better, we’re open to talking about those types of things.”
Specifically, Rep. Mulvaney said if representatives in the House have ideas to amend the bill, such as “changing the [Medicaid] expansion date … those are great ideas that would improve the bill.” He said the White House would support any changes to the bill that the House thinks would make it better, and that President Donald Trump wants everyone to have the ability to get care, according to the report.
Rep. Mulvaney was quick to come to the American Health Care Act’s defense following yesterday’s release of the Congressional Budget Office’s score of the proposed law. The CBO predicted that several provisions in the AHCA would reduce the deficit by $935 billion from 2017 to 2026, but these savings would be partially offset by provisions within the bill that would increase the federal deficit by $599 billion. Overall, the CBO estimates the AHCA would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion over the next decade. The CBO also estimated that under the AHCA, an estimated 52 million people would be uninsured by 2026, compared with an estimated 28 million who would lack insurance that year under the ACA.
Rep. Mulvaney said the score of the AHCA is an example of how “terrible” the CBO is at producing such calculations. “This is exactly what we thought the CBO would come forth with. They’re terrible at counting coverage,” Rep. Mulvaney told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day,” according to KCCI.
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