Enlarge / Tom Price, R-Ga., speaks at a signing ceremony for the “Restoring Americans Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015” (HR 3762) at the US Capitol. (credit: Getty | Congressional Quarterly )

Republican legislation that guts the Affordable Care Act would cause 18 million people to lose their insurance and would increase premiums of individual plans by about 20 to 25 percent, all within a year of being enacted, a report released today by the Congressional Budget Office estimates.

The legislation would destabilize the individual health insurance market, the report cautions, so the effects will “worsen over time.” After roughly two years, the number of uninsured would jump by 27 million and premiums would increase by about 50 percent. If nothing else changes, in ten years, the uninsured would increase by 32 million and premiums would be about double.

The CBO made the projections based on the most current insurance data and legislation introduced in 2015 by Tom Price (R-Ga.), President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The legislation, H.R.3762, is designed to dismantle the ACA through budgetary reconciliation. The legislation passed both the House and Senate at the time but was vetoed by President Obama. The GOP has already begun legislative proceedings to once again pass a budgetary reconciliation that would demolish Obama’s signature healthcare law.