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Congressional Budget Office To Announce Score Of GOP Health Care Bill

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The highly anticipated Congressional Budget Office report on the Senate's health care proposal is out. The nonpartisan CBO says 22 million more people would be without health insurance over the next 10 years compared to current law. The report says the Senate bill would also reduce the deficit by $321 billion by 2026. That's a greater reduction than the version the House passed.

Shortly after that score came out, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins took to Twitter to say she will vote no. At least seven other Republican senators have expressed doubts about the bill. One is Louisiana's Bill Cassidy. Here's what he said on CNN after the CBO score was released.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BILL CASSIDY: It makes me more concerned. I've been uncommitted, and I remain uncommitted - I mean, just deadline uncommitted - but it certainly makes me more concerned. It makes me want to explore this more.

SHAPIRO: If more than two Republican senators vote no, the bill will fail. The CBO says the largest savings in the bill would come from reductions in Medicaid spending. And Medicaid cuts are the primary reason Collins says she's against the bill. She tweeted, our hospitals are already struggling. One in 5 Mainers are on Medicaid. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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