Mulvaney on CBO: 'I don't believe the facts are correct'

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday that the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment that millions would lose health insurance under the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is wrong and should be taken with a hefty grain of salt.

“I don't believe the facts are correct,” Mulvaney said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when asked for his take on the CBO report. “I'm not just saying that because it looks bad for my political position. I'm say that based upon a track record of the CBO being wrong before and we believe the CBO is wrong now.”


The facts that Mulvaney said are wrong were released Monday afternoon by the CBO in the form of a report outlining the office’s prediction that the GOP-backed American Health Care Act would cause 24 million Americans to lose their health insurance. That prediction added fuel to the legislation’s already hefty opposition, which includes not only Democrats but also a handful Republicans concerned that about its cuts to Medicaid.

But the CBO report should not be trusted, Mulvaney said, in no small part because it has been wrong in the past on health care. With a snowy Washington backdrop behind him, Mulvaney joked at the top of his interview that he was “happy to be here on a beautiful, warm, sunny day according to the Congressional Budget Office.”

As an example of the CBO’s inability to forecast the insurance market, Mulvaney noted that it had missed badly on Obamacare enrollment predictions for this year, suggesting in a report released three years ago that 24 million people would use the law’s exchanges to purchase healthcare. In reality, Mulvaney said, that number is closer to 11.5 million.

"It's really, really hard to do this. We don't even try to do this at the OMB. That's how difficult it is,” Mulvaney said. “CBO: Good at counting money, in and out, numbers, taxes, policies and so forth. Not so sure that they’re the best folks to count insurance coverage.”