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You hear it from Republicans, pundits and even some Democrats. It’s often said in a tone of regret: I wish Obama had done health reform in a bipartisan way, rather than jamming through a partisan bill. The lament seems to have the ring of truth, given that not a single Republican in Congress voted for Obamacare. Yet it is false —demonstrably so. That it’s nonetheless stuck helps explain how the Republicans have landed in such a mess on health care. The Congressional Budget Office released a jaw-dropping report Monday estimating that the Republican health plan would take insurance from 24 million people, many of them Republican voters, and raise medical costs for others. The bill effectively rescinds benefits for the elderly, poor, sick and middle class, and funnels the money to the rich, via tax cuts. (David Leonhardt, 3/14)

Under the Republicans’ proposed American Health Care Act, there would be no such requirement to have health insurance. That would not bring an end to shared medical expenses, however. It would only mean returning to a system in which many people’s health costs are paid with tax dollars. Republicans have argued that the government shouldn’t be able to force people to purchase something they don’t want. That may be true for many things people might buy, but health insurance is different, because the costs incurred by people without it will still be borne by everyone else. Keep in mind, the U.S. has a history of requiring all citizens to fund many essential services, such as education and security. (3/13)

House Speaker Paul Ryan defended the Republican healthcare-reform plan by saying it’s not necessarily a bad thing that it will cover fewer people than Obamacare. (David Lazarus, 3/14)

The precision of the figure — 20.0 million, not 20.1 or 19.9 — suggests a level of certitude that the report doesn’t actually deliver. Its authors analyzed a blend of data from the government’s National Health Interview Survey, or NHIS, and the private Gallup Healthways survey. They concluded that 17.7 million nonelderly adults gained coverage between January 2014 and February 2016. The agency also estimated that 2.3 million young adults had gained private coverage between 2010 and 2013 because the ACA required employers to cover dependent “children” until their 26th birthdays. (Doug Badger, 3/14)

Republicans will have to do something eventually, but they will be in a better position to do that something if they wait. If the exchanges survive, they will have time to come up with a plan and sell it to the public. If they don’t survive, then Republicans will be in an even better position, because they will no longer be contending with loss aversion. People hate losing anything they already have. Most interest groups are organized to make darned sure they never lose an existing benefit. Once the exchanges have collapsed, and you are no longer taking something away from people, you have a lot more freedom to design alternatives. (Megan McArdle, 3/13)

Watching administration officials play cat and mouse with Sunday talk show hosts is a hoary Washington tradition. But yesterday, Trump spokesmen offered a remarkably large number of flat out untruths as they attempted to defend the Republican health care plan. (Steven Rattner, 3/13)

Benjamin does not walk or talk, he can’t see and is partially deaf. He will need full-time care for the rest of his life, and thanks to Medicaid I know someone will be there when my parents, sister or I can’t be. But now that safety net is under attack. Overlooked in the Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a drastic change to traditional Medicaid funding that threatens services for more than 10 million people with disabilities. (Alyssa Roberts, 3/13)