New CBO score coming before ObamaCare vote, chairman says

Republicans will have an updated Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of the ObamaCare replacement bill before a vote on Thursday, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said Monday.

Brady said changes to the GOP legislation will be unveiled later on Monday as leaders seek to win over enough votes to pass the legislation. 

Possible changes include giving more tax credits for buying health insurance to older and lower-income people, and repealing ObamaCare’s taxes sooner.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) last week had declined to commit to having an updated CBO analysis before the floor vote. 

But Brady said lawmakers will have the bill’s score “certainly before we go to the floor,” which still leaves open the possibility of the CBO’s report coming out the day of the vote.

“The bill at the end of the day coming out of the Rules Committee will have a positive score to it,” Brady told reporters. “We expect to get an updated score before it goes to the House floor.”

Some centrist lawmakers say they want to see the new score, and its analysis of cost and coverage numbers, before deciding on the legislation. 

The House has been working with the Senate on the changes, Brady said. 

“We look to the Senate to make even more improvements to the legislation going forward,” Brady said.

The first CBO analysis estimated that the bill would result in an additional 24 million people being uninsured over the next decade.