WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional Republicans are about to learn more about whether their drive to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health care law has been worth the political pain they’ve been experiencing.
The Congressional Budget Office planned to release its estimate Wednesday of what impact the GOP’s House-passed health care overhaul would have on coverage and premiums.
The report could give talking points to House Republicans for their bill, or to Democrats who voted unanimously against it. For GOP senators holding private meetings to sketch out their own legislation, its figures could serve as a starting point as they consider changing the House’s Medicaid cuts, tax credits and other policies.
“We’ll use that sort of as a backdrop against which to plan some of our Senate options,” said No. 3 Senate GOP leader John Thune of South Dakota.
The nonpartisan budget office, lawmakers’ official fiscal analyst, released two reports on earlier versions of the House bill in March. Both concluded that the legislation would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 24 million over a decade, a mammoth number that contributed to GOP defections that thwarted House passage until they narrowly approved revised legislation this month.