Marco Rubio had fighting words for the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the U.S. Senate’s proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare this week. On Wednesday, Rubio wasted no time laying into the CBO’s evaluation of the bill, which analysts say will leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026.
Rubio appeared in a Facebook Live chat to rattle off what he saw as an analysis riddled with major problems.
The two-term Florida Republican senator said the CBO had improperly analyzed the GOP proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare for several reasons, but noted the main reason the CBO was off in its analysis was because it was comparing the Senate bill to Obamacare from March of last year.
That report, Rubio said, couldn’t be further off -- and the analysis, he said, was “deeply flawed.”
“That is not an accurate baseline,” Rubio said. “In just the last year, premiums have increased, less companies are in the marketplace, people have dropped out of coverage or lost coverage. ... So when you say that 15 million people are losing coverage in the next two years, compared to what? Because they're comparing it to something that doesn't exist.”
Earlier this week, CBO analysts estimated the Senate plan would result in significant cuts to to Medicaid, reaching $772 billion by 2026. On Thursday, the agency predicted that by 2036, Medicaid funding under the Senate bill would be 35 percent below what it would be under current law.
Florida would see an eight percent cut in Medicaid under the GOP proposal, which has come under fire from Democrats and some national Republicans who say they can’t vote for the measure as it currently stands.
Obamacare gave states the option of expanding their Medicaid programs to provide more health insurance to low-income people, but Florida was not one of the states to opt into the expansion. Florida is one of the few states which refused to expand Medicaid after the Florida House objected to the expansion of an additional 800,000 people during the 2015 legislative session.
Rubio had several other issues with the analysis, including the underlying implication Florida would be one of the states to expand Medicaid -- something the Sunshine State had already refused to do once before.
“That's a joke,” Rubio scoffed. “How do they know? How does their computer know what decision these state leaders are going to make? Did they talk to the state leaders? Because Florida has already decided they're not expanding... and yet somehow, they throw this number out there [as] if it's accurate."
The bottom line, Rubio said, was that any projection based on Florida expanding Medicaid was “flawed.”
“You can't have an honest debate about the future of healthcare in America and how to reform it, if we're not operating on the facts as our baseline,” he said. “And a lot of that depends on how this is being reported."
Earlier this week, Rubio met with Gov. Rick Scott to discuss making the bill Florida-friendly. Scott, who is widely rumored to be pondering a run for U.S. Senate next year, said it was important to make sure the bill was palatable for the Sunshine State -- and it was partially Rubio's responsibility to make sure Florida's needs are met in the bill.
“This is a work in progress,” Scott said. “Obamacare is a disaster. Costs have spiraled out of control. We knew that was going to happen.”
Scott said opening up the health care market was the primary way to make health insurance palatable on Floridians’ pocketbooks.
“The only way you’re going to get costs down where people can afford their own health care is more competition and [allowing] people to buy the insurance they want to buy,” he told Fox News Tuesday.
Rubio has said he is still undecided on whether he can support the bill, noting there were still improvements to be made.
“I don't even know if I can support it yet," Rubio said, but added he was hopeful about the future of the bill.
"The hope is that we can at least have an agreement on what we can get enough votes on this week and turn to it as soon as we come back [from recess,]” he said.
A vote on the health care measure is expected to take place next week after the Fourth of July recess.
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