Estimated 23 million would lose health insurance under Republican bill: CBO

An estimated 23 million people would lose health coverage by 2026 under Republican legislation aimed at repealing Obamacare, a nonpartisan congressional agency said on Wednesday in the first calculation of the new bill's potential impact.

The report from the Congressional Budget Office also said federal deficits would fall by $119 billion between 2017 and 2026 under the Republican bill. The CBO score raises the stakes for Republican senators working on their own version of legislation passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month.

House Republicans came under sharp criticism for passing the bill before the CBO could make its assessment. The Trump administration already has relied on the House bill's healthcare spending cuts in its proposed federal budget.

(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Eric Beech)