Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would undo major provisions of the Affordable Care Act before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had an opportunity to analyze the impact of the bill.

Today, the CBO published its report CHCF President and CEO Sandra R. Hernández responds to the CBO’s findings:

“The Congressional Budget Office’s newly revised estimate gives us a brutally honest look at the real-world consequences of lawmakers’ latest attempt to overhaul health care. The consequences are impossible to ignore.

“If this bill becomes law, 23 million Americans will lose health insurance by 2026. Families will be forced to choose between paying for care or putting food on the table. It will create a huge hole in the nation’s health care safety net by cutting Medicaid funding by about one-quarter. States, communities, and families will struggle to provide necessary care for those who are most vulnerable — including children, seniors, and people with severe physical or mental disabilities.

“These deleterious changes would have an especially serious impact in California, where Medicaid covers one in three Californians. Under these changes, more Californians will delay or defer necessary care. When they do show up for care, they will be sicker and the ensuing costs to provide care will rise, affecting all segments of the health care market. More Californians will declare bankruptcy because of high medical costs.

“For the richest nation on earth, this scenario is simply unacceptable. As a nation, we can do better, and these new facts show us that we must.”

For more information, please see CHCF’s existing list of data resources and analysis of the potential impact of ACA repeal on California. Or contact Senior Communications Officer Anne Sunderland at [email protected].

About the California Health Care Foundation