Donald Trump's Trumpcare proposal too expensive, bad for uninsured, watchdog group says

Photo by Michael Vadon

Donald Trump's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare would cost an estimated $270 billion over ten years and would nearly double the number of uninsured Americans, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonprofit, bipartisan fiscal watchdog group.

The committee is made up of leading budget experts including many  past chairmen and directors of the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, the Government Accountability Office, and the Federal Reserve Board, according to the committee's website fiscalfactcheck.crfb.org.

Some sources have questioned the committee's funding and its former questionable corporate ties.

On March 14, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget did an analysis of Donald Trump's recently released healthcare plan that proposes to repeal and replace Obamacare.

The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination said he would create a tax deduction for individuals buying their own health insurance.

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An estimated 21 million people would lose their ACA health insurance  under a Trumpcare scenario, according to the committee, estimating that only 5 percent of the 22 million who lost coverage would get insurance.

The committee said this plan would equalize the tax treatment between individually-purchased and employer-provided health insurance, but at a cost of roughly $100 billion over ten years.

The cost would be partially offset by savings from Trump's proposal to expand prescription drug importation and re-importation, and by allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines, according to the committee.

Trump has said he could save $300 billion a year through aggressive negotiation for Medicare drugs, but the committee disagreed, arguing Medicare spends an average of $111 billion each year on prescription drugs.

Trump's plan for block granting Medicaid could save $25 to $850 billion. The number is not known because Trump has not provided information on the size of the proposed block grant, the committee said.

Transforming Medicaid to block grants to the states would mean replacing the current system, in which the federal government pays for a portion of state Medicaid costs, based on a matching rate, with a fixed federal amount each year.

[Also: Trump releases plan to replace Obamacare]

Trump policies to require price transparency and promote health savings accounts would likely be a fiscal wash, according to the committee.

Meanwhile, the committee commended President Obama's budget, saying it provides sufficient revenue and spending cuts to pay for new initiatives and reduce projected deficits.

The administration's estimated net deficit reduction of $2.9 trillion through 2026, is in line with Congressional Budget Office estimates of $2.5 trillion, the committee said.

"The president's budget should be commended for not only responsibly paying for new initiatives, but identifying significant deficit reduction to stabilize the debt," the committee said.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget was formed in 1981 by former Congressman Robert Giaimo, D-Conn. and former Senator Henry Bellmon, R-Oklahoma, according to its website.

According to sourcewatch.org, which relies on contributed content, and The Huffington Post, the committee received funding from a foundation formed by Peter G. Peterson, a Wall Street billionaire who used his wealth in support for slashing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

In the 1990s, the committee formed a cost containment coalition that objected to President Clinton's healthcare reform proposals, according to both sources. It was later revealed that the former lobbying group, the Tobacco Institute, funded the coalition, both said.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse