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May 26, 2017 11:06 AM UTC

Tipton Doesn't Believe CBO Score That Makes Him Look Terrible

  • 24 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its score of the GOP healthcare legislation (Trumpcare 2.0/American Health Care Act) late Wednesday, and the numbers are absolutely terrible for Congressional Republicans. Thursday’s front page of the Denver Post summed up the bad news in pretty stark terms, as you can see from the image at right.

Colorado Republicans took a variety of different approaches in response to the CBO score. Congressman Ken Buck (R-Greeley) — who voted YES on the bill earlier this month — talked about how the AHCA was “just the first step” in a long process of “replacing our flawed healthcare system.” Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma), meanwhile, did his best to distance the Senate from the House healthcare bill altogether.

Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) does not believe in UFOs, Bigfoot, or the CBO.

And then there’s Congressman Scott Tipton (R-Cortez), also a YES vote on the latest bill, who took a decidedly different approach in responding to the CBO score. Tipton’s full statement is remarkably obtuse, but his argument boils down to this: Tipton doesn’t believe the CBO score is accurate.

This is a completely illogical response, but since Tipton voted in favor of Trumpcare 2.0 before he even knew the impact of the bill, he doesn’t really have anything else to say in his defense:

“The CBO has a long history of making inaccurate predictions about the ACA and has acknowledged that its 2016 baseline measurement of the number of people insured was off by at least 5 million. Despite missing the mark, the CBO has used the inaccurate 2016 baseline as the measuring stick for coverage under the AHCA.”

Tipton says the CBO might have been off by “at least 5 million” people in its 2016 baseline measurement of uninsured Americans, which implies that the CBO score on the AHCA (Trumpcare 2.0) is mathematically inaccurate. Even if Tipton’s math is correct here, that still means at least 18 million more people would lose health coverage under Trumpcare 2.0 compared to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

“Additionally, the CBO cannot predict the decisions individuals will make when they are no longer forced by the federal government to buy an insurance product they don’t want.”

The Congressional Budget Office cannot predict the future, therefore it is worthless. This particular sentence does not end up making more sense if you re-read it again and again (trust us — we tried).

“As the House has worked towards repealing and replacing the ACA, my focus has been on the cost of health care, because measuring success by the number of people who are insured doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when most of these people can’t afford to use their insurance.”

This is dumb. The corollary here is that it makes more sense to measure the number of people who might end up with health insurance that is cheaper but doesn’t actually cover anything. You can also buy a used car for a couple hundred bucks; you won’t be able to start the engine, but look at how much money you saved!

“The AHCA is designed to give Coloradans more choice over their insurance plans, affordable premiums and deductibles, and better access to health care services.”

It may very well be true that the AHCA was “designed” to provide more choice in healthcare, more affordable premiums and deductibles, and better access to services. But that’s not what the AHCA actually does, and the CBO score makes this abundantly clear.

As political statements go, this response from Tipton is pretty awful. Tipton would have been better off following Rep. Buck’s lead by calling the AHCA just a “first step” in a longer process. Instead, Tipton decided to “shoot the messenger” — never a good strategy when it’s clear to most everyone else that the “messenger” isn’t the problem.

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24 thoughts on “Tipton Doesn’t Believe CBO Score That Makes Him Look Terrible”

    1. It's always interesting when applying Hanlon's razor to see how the malice/stupidity question gets resolved.  I guess, sometimes, it's an abundance of both.

      Of course, the 23 million folks "under Republican proposal" are in addition to anyone who is currently uninsured.

      A bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act that narrowly passed the House this month would leave 14 million more people uninsured next year than under President Barack Obama’s health law — and 23 million more in 2026, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. Some of the nation’s sickest would pay much more for health care.

        1. I have no idea how you miss the meaning of "more than." Or how you have buried your head so you ignore the MANY estimates of the smaller number of people who would have insurance under AHCA.

    3. How about skipping over the Health ENews . com and going to the CBO?

       

      The increase in the number of uninsured people relative to the number projected under current law would reach 19 million in 2020 and 23 million in 2026. (page 4, emphasis added) 

      I cannot assume anything here, so this may also be required for your understanding:

       

      in·crease

      verb

      past tense: increased; past participle: increased

      inˈkrēs/

      1. become or make greater in size, amount, intensity, or degree.

        "car use is increasing at an alarming rate"

        synonyms:grow, get bigger, get larger, enlarge, expand, swell; More

      1. Are you telling me that Obama Care, which was sold to the American people as a plan that would provide insurance or force people who didn't have insurance, to purchase it, so that these people would be covered. That's what the Democratic Party sold. So why are there 27 Million people uninsured? Obama said they would be covered, the Democrats said they would be covered. It must be a mistake, you guys fixed this for us. 

         

        2. Ya know Pear, if you simply Googled "why are 27 million people without insurance under obamacare?" you could have found the answer without skinning your ignorance yet again in full public view.

          The ACA didn't make failure to purchase insurance a felony, so some people decided to just pay the penalty rather than buy insurance (my 58 year old nephew for example). 

          Other people are uninsured because GOP-controlled states refused to extend Medicaid, preferring instead that poor people, not only should be invisible, but should simply die and be done with it.

          So that's why Republicans would rather see about 50 million uninsured instead (27 + 23 = 50 just in case you wondered).  Funny how you seem to think that number is better.

    4. Two fallacies the size of Mac Trucks pear bottom.

      1) You don't acknowledge that Republican Governors by refusing the Medicaid expansion suppressed enrollment.  Republicans like you cry failure at every opportunity but NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE your underhanded and evil efforts to undermine and destroy the health care coverage for millions  of innocents.  Republicans had many many opportunities to make it more affordable but chose a scorched earth approach to harming as many non-wealthy people as possible with their replacement piece of shit.

      2) In spite of the evil intentions of Republicans like you, the percentage of uninsured has fallen since the Affordable Care Act has been implemented.  If you tack the 23 million to the 27 outstanding you get 50 million unemployed compared to 28 under the ACA.

      Evil and lying as always.  I'm am so glad that I don't have your hatred for the poor and sick in my heart.  You exemplify the hypocrisy of today's Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Trump Loving Christian.

  3. 47 Million people uninsured in 2010 census. Obama Care makes 20 million people buy insurance. Trump Care, 23 Million people not forced to buy insurance. So it seems to me there are 20 – 23 million people who want to take the risk of being uninsured. Tell me why should I care how free people choose to spend their money.

    "Big Hospital", "Big Doctor" and "Big Insurance" want taxpayers to cover their bad debts.

    1. Yo, Putrid Pustule…..

      "Big Hospital", "Big Doctor" and "Big Insurance" want taxpayers to cover their bad debts"

      And why is it that Big Hospital have bad debts? Good question. Because 30 years ago some guy name Ronald Reagan signed legislation forbidding hospitals from turning away emergent care patients. (You might mistake him for a proponent of socialized medicine.)

      So where does leave us? Another good question. When Joe Personal Responsibility – who rants about his freedom and how doesn't carry insurance to his tea bagging buddies – has his massive heart attack and ends up in the E.R., then undergoes bypass surgery and after a stint in ICU is discharged with $500,000 in bills he will never pay, he does what debtor-creditor lawyers call a medical bankruptcy. He skips out on those bills.

      Guess who gets to pay them? Another good question. Answer: the rest of us have to cover for your deadbeats and freeloaders.

    2. Tell me why I care how our communities fund our rural hospitals even though they cater to Trump lovers?  Because I believe in building bridges that I will never cross.  I believe in building schools I will never attend.  I believe in paying for fire protection even though I will probably never see them spraying water on my house.  It is called community and non-Republicans believe in contributing to their communities because it raises the standard of living for all of us.  Real Americans plant trees that they will never sit under because they believe in paying it forward to the next generation of Americans.  Republicans are the antithesis of patriotic Americans who want to contribute to the betterment of their community and country.  Republicans only care about number one which is why they worship the anti-Christ who exhibits none of the humility and compassion of Jesus.

      Pear keeps talking about how terrible the uninsured rate is but never answers if he knows that our uninsured rate is at it's lowest lever in a generation.  Sure we don't compare to the countries that have single-payer but if you measure the uninsured by historical measures, it is definitely lower.  Pear keeps talking about the uninsured as if they are in a terrible state because of the ACA but when it is pointed out that the AHCA will result in catastrophic losses in coverage and will drive up the number of uninsured households and those with pre-existing conditions, he puts his fingers in his ears and pretends that the current rates are unacceptable.  What a horrible, selfish, anti-Christian asshole to pretend that he cares about community and the uninsured when all he really cares about is himself.  A Pharisee who will never see the Kingdom of Heaven if there is a righteous God.

      2. Thank you for telling us how much you care. You should direct your insight to your friends who believe in Santa Claus economics. Maybe then the uninsured will see the value of protecting their own health.

         

        1. Maybe someday when tiny hands grows a conscience, Pear will see what a fraud he is pretending that he cares about the uninsured.  Truly he serves Beelzebub and will do anything to pretend that the uninsured rate hasn't gone down with the Affordable Care Act.  What a gutless puke to try and pass off this Republican abomination of legislation as better for the poor than what they have now.

        2. Just how does one 'protect their own health' in totality?  For those on the bottom part of the economic scale, good food is generally out of reach.  If they live in an inner-city, the inhalation of VOC's are causing hundreds of billions of dollars in direct and indirect health costs (the Clean Air Act has the mechanism to eliminate BTX from the fuel supply but API owns Congress on this issue); what are they to do? Stop breathing?  Ditto for areas where TwoScoops™ 'cheap coal' is used for generating power (again, almost always in social justice communities).  

          We know how to fix these problems; the technology exists.  Corporate America has mastered the business model of socializing the negative externalities of their operations while privatizing the profits.  

           

          1. You could do a great public service to alert all those people who live in high rise apartments in downtown Denver to get out so they aren't killed by VOC's. It is absolutely horrifying the danger they are in. Surely Hickenlooper and mayor Handcock know about this   peril. I hope it is not some sinister plot to lure Republicans into downtown to poison them with VOC's. 

            1. Please humor me and tell me this is the first time you've ever responded to a VOC question? Or that you even knew what they were before yesterday? Because anyone with an ounce of knowledge on the compounds wouldn't make light of the fact we tolerate them in our air.  Particularly since we've had solutions to the problem since the Clear Air Act was implemented. 

      3. Well, I won't see the kingdom of heaven either, and neither will you, GG.  The Pharisees, like Hillel, worked diligently to envision it.  See Hyam Macoby, Revolution in Judaea.  But that kingdom of heaven thing is a bit out of reach.  

        Life is hard and then you die.  Try to enjoy the ride, follow the golden rule (which hillel the Pharisee authored) and don't shove your Bible down my throat.  

         

         

         

         

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