Stephen Colbert rips apart the 'Trumpcare' plan: 'We're all gonna die'

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March 8, 2017 4:04 PM

Stephen Colbert looks closely at the details of the "Trumpcare" healthcare proposal and dances with the Grim Reaper.

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House Republicans on Monday released legislation that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

And after much analysis by politicians and the media on Tuesday, it looks like the new plan isn't going over any more smoothly than Obamacare did. Some conservatives have said the new plan is "Obamacare lite."

Stephen Colbert examined it all in his opening of Tuesday's "Late Show."

First, he pointed to things in the existing plan that would stay under "Trumpcare": People could stay on their parents' healthcare plan until they are 26, and insurance companies couldn't discriminate because of preexisting conditions.

But then Colbert got into the new elements, such as insurance company executives who make over $500,000 receiving a tax break — "So all of them?" Colbert said — and the fact that Republicans released the bill without cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

"So this bill is going to be like those fancy restaurants where they don't have what it costs on the menu," Colbert said.

He also said that experts had estimated the Republican healthcare plan would cover "20 million fewer Americans than Obamacare."

In short, Colbert said he thought the only person who liked this plan was the Grim Reaper, who came onstage and danced with Colbert.

"We're all gonna die," Colbert said jokingly as the Grim Reaper walked off the stage.

Then Colbert addressed press secretary Sean Spicer's visual prop at his press briefing on Tuesday, in which he stacked the new 123-page healthcare bill next to Obamacare's 974 pages, that was meant to show how much better the new bill was.

"When it comes to writing anything down, shorter is always better," Colbert said. "Look, if shorter is better, why not just a one-page plan that says 'Walk it off'?"

Watch Colbert's complete opening:

Republicans Release New Health Plan

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