House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is working to assure Americans that no one will be worse off while Republicans repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act amid reports that millions of people could lose coverage during the transition period.
The Urban Institute released a report this week in which the group projects what would happen if Republicans simply repeal Obamacare and offer no replacement plan.
"The number of uninsured people would rise from 28.9 million to 58.7 million in 2019, an increase of 29.8 million people," the report states. "There is currently no consensus around alternative health policies to enact as the [Affordable Care Act] is repealed; consequently, partial repeal via reconciliation without replacement is possible and merits analysis."
In June, Speaker Ryan offered the GOP's replacement plan to Obamacare, known as "A Better Way."
The speaker has done multiple interviews this week reassuring Americans that they will not lose coverage during a transition period.
In an interview with 60 Minutes aired Sunday, Ryan said that health care reform is the first bill he intends to pass.
"You have to remember this law is getting much worse," Ryan told CNBC on Wednesday. "It is what actuaries say, 'Entering a death spiral.' High, high premiums increase, high deductibles, no choices. We have to fix this problem."
"We will have a transition period that will be reasonable so we're not pulling the rug out from people midstream," he said. "I think people believe, just with all of the rhetoric, 'Oh my gosh, in February I'm going to lose what I've got right now and I'll have nothing to go to.'"
"Clearly there will be a transition and a bridge so that no one is left out in the cold, so that no one is worse off," Ryan said Monday in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "The purpose here is to bring relief to people who are suffering from Obamacare so that they can get something better."
The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R., Texas), who worked with Ryan on the replacement plan, echoed Ryan's statements.
"We are not going to rip health care out of the hands of Americans," he recently told the Associated Press. "Republicans are going to give Americans choices and an appropriate transition."