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Oregon’s Senators Say CBO Scoring Proves GOP Health Plan Will Hurt Millions

C Span via YouTube
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden speaking on the Senate floor Monday afternoon against the House Republican health care plan meant to replace Obamacare.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has released its analysis of the Republican plan to replace Obamacare. And Oregon’s Democratic senators say the impact will be as grim as they feared. 

Senator Ron Wyden took to the floor of the Senate to slam the GOP plan, which he described as “Robin Hood in Reverse.”

"This is an eye-popping transfer of wealth away from older people, from women and kids, from the most vulnerable, directly into the wallets of the fortunate few," he said.

Senator Jeff Merkley also weighed in, saying in a release that reductions in coverage for the poor and higher premiums for older people would be accompanied by hundreds of (b)billions in tax cuts for the wealthy.

The report projects that the plan put forward by House Republicans would mean 24 million fewer people covered by health insurance within 10 years than there would be under the current law. About half of that increase in the uninsured would come from low income people who would lose the coverage they got under Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.

The CBO report also projects the Republican plan would reduce the federal budget deficit by $337 billion dollars by 2026.

Liam Moriarty has been covering news in the Pacific Northwest for three decades. He served two stints as JPR News Director and retired full-time from JPR at the end of 2021. Liam now edits and curates the news on JPR's website and digital platforms.