title:  American Medical Association Says GOP’s Make America Sick Again Bill Is ‘Unacceptable’
text: The Congressional Budget Office released their assessment of the GOP s Obamacare replacement bill on Monday and the news was worse than many had even feared. According to the analysis of the nonpartisan group, the American Health Care Act would result in 24 million people losing their healthcare within the next ten years.Talking Points Memo reports that in response to the CBO report, the American Medical Association denounced the Republicans  make America sick again bill as  unacceptable. If this bill were to become law, CBO projects 14 million Americans who have gained coverage in recent years could lose it in 2018. For the AMA, that outcome is unacceptable,  the group said on Monday.The AMA made their opposition to the AHCA crystal clear last week. In a letter written last Tuesday, the group said there was no way they could  support the AHCA as drafted   because of  the expected decline in health insurance coverage and the potential harm it would cause to vulnerable patient populations. Critically, we urge you to do all that is possible to ensure that those who are currently covered do not become uninsured,  the AMA begged lawmakers.The CBO assessment estimated that of the 24 million people who would lose their insurance over the next decade, 14 million would find themselves without coverage before the end of the year. When the number of people already uninsured is combined with those who would lose their healthcare under the AHCA, a total of 52 million people would have no coverage by 2026. Today s estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office underscore the AMA s concerns about the AHCA as it is written,  the AMA said.The AMA conceded that the Affordable Care Act was admittedly  an imperfect law,  but they said there was no way to deny that Obamacare was  a significant improvement on the status quo at the time. The AMA believes we need continued progress to expand coverage for the uninsured. Unfortunately, the current proposal   as the CBO analysis shows   would result in the most vulnerable population losing their coverage. Under the AHCA, the elderly and disabled would be hit with higher premiums than their younger, healthier counterparts. This means that they would also be the most likely to be unable to afford coverage even though they are the ones whose lives depend on healthcare the most.Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images