Price: Under GOP Health Plan, No One Takes Financial Hit

'I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially'
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 12, 2017 2:04 PM CDT
Price: Under GOP Health Plan, No One Takes Financial Hit
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price talks with a guest as they wait for the arrival of Vice President Mike Pence to begin a meeting with conservative groups to discuss healthcare, Friday, March 10, 2017.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

In a letter to lawmakers on Wednesday, the American Hospital Association expressed its concern that the GOP's new health care bill "could lead to tremendous instability for those seeking affordable coverage." In a Sunday appearance on Meet the Press, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price insisted the affordable part wouldn't change. "I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially in the process that we're going through," he said, reports NBC News. "There's cost that needs to come down, and we believe we're going to be able to do that through this system. There's coverage that's going to go up."

Politico reports he addressed that "up" part, too, waving off a Brookings Institution report that posits the Congressional Budget Office will report that some 15 million Americans would lose their coverage under the American Health Care Act by 2026. "The plan that we've laid out here will not leave that number of individuals uncovered," said Price. "In fact, I believe, again, that we’ll have more individuals covered." Paul Ryan tackled the repeal and replace effort, too, in his appearance on CBS' Face the Nation. When asked about the prospects of getting the bill through Congress, he said "I believe we can get 51 votes out of the Senate," per Politico. (More American Health Care Act stories.)

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