It looks like the Republican's replacement plan for Obamacare is even worse than expected. The Brooking Institute had estimated that a minimum of 15 million people would lose their heal insurance if the GOP plan replaces Obamacare. Now the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has revealed their assessment of the Republican plan -- and they say up to 26 million will lose their health insurance (14 million in just the first year, and 26 million by 2026).
And the Republican bill would punish older working class Americans. While a young person is predicted to save a modest $250 a year in insurance premiums, those near retirement age would be hit much harder. A 64 year-old making $26,500 a year currently pays $1700 a year for health insurance. Under the GOP plan, that 64 year-old would have to pay $14,600 a year -- a whopping increase of $12,900 (about a 759% increase)!
Older working class Americans were the largest supporters of Trump and the Republicans in the last election -- so it seems strange that they would be the group hit the hardest by the GOP plan. But that's exactly what would happen. Do the Republicans really want to throw away the votes of their biggest supporters?
The plan is a travesty, and it would mean a death sentence for many of those who can no longer afford insurance. One study by Harvard doctors showed it could cause as many as 43,000 extra deaths each year (deaths that would have been prevented under Obamacare).
A recent Monmouth University Poll (done between March 2nd and 5th of a random national sample of 801 adults with a margin of error of 3.5 points) shows that 20% of people already have to choose between paying bills or getting medical care -- and 31% forgo getting needed medical treatment because they can't afford it. Those figures would rise substantially under the Republican plan.
This is a very bad plan. It takes health insurance away from millions of Americans while giving huge tax breaks to the rich and corporations.
