Like it, loathe it, revamp it – take your pick…

Democrats and Republicans are giving wildly divergent opinions about the Paul Ryan healthcare plan. Who are Americans to believe?

To Senator Chuck Schumer and other Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, the Republican plan – “The American Health Care Act” – is nothing more than a pyramid scheme with consumers on the bottom.

In contrast, Speaker Paul Ryan and many of his fellow Republicans argue it’s a full repeal and replacement with a great plan for all.

“This is a conservative wish-list,” said Ryan. “Look at what this bill does: it repeals ObamaCare’s taxes, it repeals Obamacare’s spending, Medicaid expansion, and the ObamaCare subsidies.”

A group of conservative House Republicans, led by Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, argues Ryan’s plan doesn’t come close to what voters want: a full repeal of ObamaCare. The group plans to launch a floor fight to dramatically revise The American Health Care Act.

Reacting to the CBO’s prediction of people losing their coverage, Linda Gorman of the Independence Institute says they’re only losing their government-provided healthcare.

“When they say a whole lot of people will lose coverage, that’s because the bill ultimately will restrict Medicaid enrollment for able-bodied people,” she explains. “So they’re going to lose their Medicaid coverage by 2026 – but that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t go out and buy other coverage. But CBO, of course, has to assume that they don’t.”

On the positive side, the CBO report estimates the GOP bill reduces federal deficits by $337 billion over a decade and begins to bring down insurance premiums by around 10 percent starting in 2020. Gorman tells OneNewsNow such numbers should please free-market conservatives.

“It is a big tax improvement because it takes away all the ObamaCare taxes,” she says. “I mean, ObamaCare really hit wealthier people a lot with high Medicare taxes.”

Of course, the Republican plan isn’t perfect. Some of that money will be recouped by insurance companies in the form of a 30-perecent enrollment surcharge for those who come late to the program or let their insurance lapse. To many, that’s a mandate – just like ObamaCare.

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