Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   The reality behind the CBO score Date:   7/25/2017 4:40:52 PM

The real challenge here is that they have to use the reconciliation process to avoid needing 60 votes in the Senate for cloture.  With reconciliation there is only so much they can do to fix this mess we are in with Obamacare.  That is the reality and why you are seeing movement by the more conservative Senators like Cruz, Lee and even Rand Paul.  The best the GOP can do is to offer Obamacare-lite because they don't have the votes.  This is just the first step to dismantling Obamacare but not the final step.....hopefully.

As for what is in the bills, you can read lots of analysis about the various versions that have been proposed.  Each have their merits and various problems.  What I find incredible about the CBO score is their ridiculous emphasis on the mandate despite having been so wrong in their predictions.  So you wildly overstate the number of signups, then you wildly overstate the number that won't sign up with the mandate gone based on your initial overstatements.  The CBO is a joke and should be ignored.  But we live in the real world and as you know from your many years inside the beltway reality is not what is important to them.

As for HSA's, I have one and its more like a 401k instead of expecting someone to have the discipline to save money.  It is typically done via a payroll deduction and goes right into the HSA account.  And the HSA is tied to a catastrophic policy for those events that will use up the funds in the account.  I think their idea is to allow people to be able to put more into the HSA (current limit is around $7K) which would allow them to have a higher deductible for their catastrophic policy so their premium is lower.  And I think they want HSAs to be more available to people that want them.