WASHINGTON — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that the latest version of a Senate bill to repeal and replace the health care law would leave 15 million people without health insurance next year, rising to 22 million in 2026 — another blow to the legislative push that President Trump is trying to revive.
The increase in the number of people who are uninsured was the same as the 22 million more people who would be uninsured in 2026 under an earlier version of the bill that was analyzed in June.
The newest score of a replacement for the health care law came after a marathon bargaining session Wednesday night with balking senators that ended inconclusively. On Wednesday, the budget office released its analysis of a separate bill that would repeal large parts of former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law without a replacement. That analysis concluded that such a move would increase the number of people without health insurance by 32 million in 2026.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has ended Affordable Care Act contracts that brought assistance into libraries, businesses, and urban neighborhoods in 18 cities, meaning shoppers on the insurance exchanges will have fewer places to turn for help signing up for coverage.
Community groups say the move, announced to them by contractors last week, will make it even more difficult to enroll the uninsured and help people already covered reenroll or shop for a new policy. That’s already a concern because of consumer confusion stemming from the political wrangling in Washington and a shorter enrollment period. People will have 45 days to shop for 2018 coverage, starting Nov. 1 and ending Dec. 15. In previous years, they had twice that much time.
Some see it as another attempt to undermine the health law’s marketplaces by a president who has suggested he should let ‘‘Obamacare’’ fail. The administration, earlier this year, pulled paid advertising for the sign-up website HealthCare.gov, prompting an inquiry by a federal inspector general into that decision and whether it hurt enrollment.
Now insurers and advocates are concerned that the administration could further destabilize the marketplaces where people shop for coverage by not promoting them or not enforcing the mandate compelling people to get coverage.
The administration has already threatened to withhold payments to insurers to help people afford care, which would prompt insurers to sharply increase prices.
Senators were set to leave for the weekend Thursday afternoon after a demoralizing week of fruitless negotiations.
The majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, appears determined to force the Senate to vote next week on a motion to begin debating health care, but is short of the 50 votes he needs.
The latest analysis may be incomplete.
It did not include a provision that would allow insurers to offer low-cost, stripped-down insurance plans.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
