The Congressional Budget Office (C.B.O.) gave Congress, and the rest of us, the low-down on what the Trumpcare plan will cost regular people. 14 million will lose their insurance as early as 2018. That number would rise to 21 million by 2020 and 24 million in 2026.

People in 31 states and Washington, D.C., that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, will lose out under the proposed American Health Care Act developed by Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The Association of American Medical Colleges issued a statement condemning the plan. Its C.E.O. Darrell G. Kirch, M.D. said, “These are people, not numbers — people who all too often will be left without access to regular care, putting their health at risk. Many of them will come to our nation’s teaching hospitals, but they may wait until they are in crisis and the costs and complexity of treatment have increased.”

 The C.B.O. numbers seem startling. 48 million people under 65 will go uninsured in 2020 if this legislation passes. 

Average premiums for people who buy health insurance on their own would go up 15 to 20 percent, according to the C.B.O.

Younger people would do better under the Trumpcare plan because the insurance would rate payments by your age. By 2026 premiums would cost 20 to 25 percent less for a 21-year-old, eight to ten percent lower for a forty-year old, but 20-25 percent higher for a 64-year-old.

A 21-year-old who earns $26,000 a year and has an insurance policy that costs $5,100 a year now pays $1700 because of tax credits. Under the proposed plan the cost would drop to $1,450.

But a 64-year-old who earns $26,000 and now pays $1700 with tax credits would pay $14,600.

Even before the C.B.O. analysis laid out the numbers, the A.A.R.P. reacted angrily to the proposal. Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said, “Before people even reach retirement age, big insurance companies could be allowed to charge them an age tax that adds up to thousands of dollars more per year. Older Americans need affordable health care services and prescriptions. This plan goes in the opposite direction increasing insurance premiums for older Americans and not doing anything to lower drug costs.”

 

You can find the full C.B.O. report CBO Healthcare Report.