A widely circulated talking point about cuts to Medicaid inflates the legislation’s effects by about five million people.The New York Times reports that there has been a widely circulated talking point about the recent Republican proposal to cut federal spending on Medicaid and Obamacare. This talking point claims that the legislation would cause 13.7 million Americans to become uninsured, a number that is almost as large as the number of Americans who would have lost coverage if Republicans had succeeded in repealing Obamacare in 2017. However, this number is an exaggeration and the real number is about 8.6 million.
The Democrats from the Energy and Commerce Committee released a letter from the Congressional Budget Office on Sunday night, summarizing the legislation’s effects. The analysis considered the effects of the legislation itself, compared to what would happen if the bill did not pass. The budget office concluded that the bill would result in 8.6 million fewer Americans having health insurance than under current law.
However, the Democrats also asked for a second set of numbers, which the budget office provided. This was a routine request, as the budget office often answers questions from lawmakers. The Democrats asked for the effects of the new provisions to be added to the effects of another policy that is set to expire at the end of the year. When these numbers were added together, the budget office estimated a total of 13.7 million people would be uninsured.
It is important to note that this number is not the direct result of the legislation, but rather a combination of the effects of the new provisions and the expiration of another policy. Therefore, the claim that 13.7 million Americans would become uninsured solely due to the legislation is an exaggeration. The actual number is closer to 8.6 million.
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