House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) this week disputed reports that 22 million people would lose insurance under the Republican health care plan.
During an interview that aired on Tuesday, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade asked Ryan to respond to a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report that said there would be 22 million more people without health insurance by 2026 if the Senate's version of the health care bill is signed into law.
"What they are basically saying at the Congressional Budget Office, if you're not going to force people to buy Obamacare, if you're not going to force people to buy something they don't want, then they won't buy it," the Speaker opined. "So, it's not that people are getting pushed off a plan, it's that people will choose not to buy something that they don't like or want."
"And that's the difference here," he added. "By repealing the individual and employer mandate, which mandates people buy this health insurance that they can't afford, that they don't like -- if you don't mandate that they're going to do this then that many people won't do it."
Ryan, however, failed to mention that subsidies for poorer Americans would be significantly decreased, making insurance plans less affordable. Insurance companies would be allowed to reduce coverage and to force patients to pay more out of pocket, meaning plans would provide less value to the consumer.
