Friday, March 17, 2017

Billy Long: 24 million will lose health insurance, but they get to choose to lose health insurance

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

Recently, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its report on the budgetary and coverage impacts of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The potential ramifications studied by the CBO include how many individuals may lose coverage under the new system, how insurance premiums may be impacted nationwide, and the effects of the legislation on taxes and the deficit.

Though there has been a lot of “noise” surrounding the release of this report, it’s important to not only understand what is in the report, but also the purpose of the CBO, its history and how it reaches its conclusions.

The CBO was first established in 1974 and began operating on February 24, 1975, when the first director, Alice Rivlin, was appointed. The CBO’s primary objective is to provide budgetary analysis, in a nonpartisan fashion, for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The CBO not only supports the House and the Senate by analyzing budgetary legislation, it also aims to provide the general public with a better understanding of the financial impacts of major legislation under consideration by Congress.

Even though the CBO is a vital resource in understanding the financial impacts of bills, it’s important to approach each analysis with caution. In 2013, the CBO estimated that Obamacare would cover 24 million people by 2016. Last year, just a little over 10 million Americans were covered by the exchange. A number much lower than what the CBO predicted.

In the recently-released CBO report on the effects of AHCA, they estimate that over the next 10 years roughly 24 million individuals would lose their health coverage. However, it is important to note the difference between “losing insurance” and choosing not to purchase it. By eliminating the individual mandate to purchase health coverage, the AHCA is putting choice back in the hands of the consumer.

Along with lifting the burden of the individual mandate, the CBO found that the Republican health care bill will lower premiums by 10 percent, reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion and make the first meaningful entitlement reforms in decades, saving taxpayers $880 billion. At the same time, the proposed health care bill will increase health insurance choices for individuals, who currently under the Obamacare exchanges have the option of one possible plan in 84% of Missouri counties.

Increasing choices and lowering premiums were top priorities for Republicans when drafting the AHCA. Certain aspects of the CBO report’s findings are encouraging, but there is still more work to be done. The AHCA is the first step in reforming our health care system and untangling the mess that Obamacare has made. I look forward to continuing to work on this bill with my colleagues and getting the best possible deal for the American people.

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:24 AM

    Oh bubba billy. Did ya furgit ta count yer extra toes? Yer so called alternative facts don't add up there lard boy. The same fools that actually believe you and your daddy the Trumpenfuhrer are the same fools that are going to be hurt by this so called TrumpCare. You better race back to them buffets all you can because your next election your pork butt will be voted out. Good riddance to fat rubbish. Keep a spewin' them talkin points Boss Hog. But if'n ya grow some brain, you might want to start listening to your constitchense. (thats constituents for those of you who don't speak uneducated redneckese)

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  2. Anonymous1:29 PM

    Stick to boxes of Chinese nails sneaking in through Mexico.

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  3. Anonymous5:04 PM

    @11:24, Such Hate and Fat Shaming from I'm guessing, one of those Tolerant and Love Wins Lefties...You lost the argument and all credibility when you became a Bully...You and your Ilk are pathetic hypocrites!

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  4. Amen and good for you anonymous 5:04,
    You are very correct!!
    Harvey Hutchinson 303-522-6622 voice&text 24/7

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  5. Anonymous9:06 PM

    Let's get this straight. This article is about the Republican president and congress taking away 24 million people's healthcare, and we've got right wing nut Harvey Hutchinson and anonymous complaining about calling one of the congressmen responsible, a fat pig. Accuse the left of fat shaming and hate, lol. It is pretty hypocritical of these Republicans trying to take the "high road" when they are removing 24 million people from healthcare insurance. Talk about pathetic, you Republicans have the monopoly on that trait!

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  6. Anonymous7:35 AM

    Just so the previous "Stick to boxes of Chinese nails sneaking in through Mexico" isn't mistaken for an inside joke; Cong. Billy Long is the joke. Listen to the old fool lose his way amongst free trade and the boxes imported Chinese nails. These Re[publicans are so stupid it's hard to believe they aren't a parody. How stupid (or cravenly opportunistic) do their voters have to be to vote for and fund this type of politician? JEEBUS!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhV77sRyX14

    "Sarah Steelman and Billy Long didn't want you to see this video. They quickly removed it from YouTube once word spread about just how stupid both these politicians looked on free trade. The Republican party holds both these candidates in high regard. Yet neither one of them have a clue what they are talking about. During the next two years, we must work to find leaders who want to serve who are qualified--not a pretty face and deep pockets with catchy campaign phrases like Fed UP."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhV77sRyX14

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  7. Anonymous7:19 PM

    @9:06 those so callex 24 million are those that are already eligible for Medicaid, The Democratic party destroyed our health care system under Obama while literally screwing the working men and women. It needs to go, let the state's take care of there own, this was Never about healthcare for all, it was nothing more than redistribution of wealth and to punish the working class...All my working friends, family and myself have been royally screwed under Obamacare, so i hope that the GOP force feeds this right back to the democrats who forced this down our throats, or should I say up our AxxxS! Love you Harvey!!! Liberalism is a parasitic infection that if it should ever come to fruition, you might as well move to Venezuela where they are starving and eating cats and dogs, you liberals make me sick! Soooo ignorant and uninformed...

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  8. Anonymous5:08 AM

    @ 7:19

    You are so full of crap you need a laxative or possibly medical help. Obama "literally" screwed men and women with healthcare. Haha, do you even understand what literally means?! 12 million will lose health care under "Trumpcare" immediately, with another 12 million following. Immediately, seniors will be paying a rate that is five times higher than younger people. By 2020, Trump plans to do away with Medicaid, so poor people will just figuratively screwed. Sorry, that you have healthcare forced up your axxxs, sounds like you need medical attention, perhaps Don the Con will help you if you kiss his ring. Liberalism is a parasitic infection?! Again, science proves you false, and you are nothing more than a fool which has been conned and liked it. If you think Harvey intelligent, a man that cannot even write a coherent sentence, then you are just a deplorable with no hope for redemption. I think anyone reading our exchange can determine, as I have, that you are the ignorant and uniformed person here. Go read up on Trumpcare, and when you can write a paragraph that makes any kind of sense, I will be happy to debate you. You voted for Trump because you didn't like being called a deplorable, but that is a pretty accurate description of your mindset.

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  9. Anonymous5:57 AM

    Do any of you people remember how it was before the AHA when a family that had insurance could be assured of going bankrupt if hit with a major illness? Do you remember when Blue Cross of Texas went bankrupt leaving several million people without insurance? Do you remember when a trip to the Emergency Room cost started a five thousand dollars or a three day stay in the Hospital cost a year's salary? Health care has always been out of control and it looks like we are suddenly back to the bad old days.

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  10. Anonymous7:44 AM

    @5:57, I do remember family's going bankrupt because of hospital bills they couldn't pay. Guess What??? They still do! Try racking up a bill at any hospital under Obama's healthcare and see what happens. The hospital will seek a judgment against you for what you owe, if you have a job then they'll garnish your wages, and that's when people file for bankruptcy..So you see,, the so called ACA didn't change a thing, another Lie

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  11. Anonymous8:02 AM

    @5:57 I don't know where you've been living the last 8 years, but nothing of what you say has changed one bit since the ACA, Ask anyone that works in medicine, the prices have skyrocketed, not the way you portray it, Hmmm maybe you got you that free, no premium a month Obamacare that is imploding as we speak! Every insurer is pulling out because this bill is bankrupting them. I wish the GOP would do nothing and let it implode on it's own, that's what you call being really Screwed...Thanks Obama and the progressive democrats ,sarcasm!

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  12. Anonymous12:09 PM

    Why don't you call your Republican congressman and tell him you need help with health insurance. All Congressmen have health insurance which has never bankrupted any of them. I'm sure he will make no effort on your behalf as Democrats have done, you can thank your Republican congressman for absolutely nothing, because that's what they do for you.

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  13. Anonymous11:30 AM

    @5:04 You don't have room to call anyone a hypocrite with your "Grab 'em by the pussy" facist alternative fact spewing Party before Country" scum. Let's see how long Putin's puppet stays as your president. He will probably be impeached within 6 months. You can probably read that in your next issue of "National Enquirer".

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