Donald Trump mum as health bill lands biggest backer

March 11--One of the country's largest health insurers backed the Republican-sponsored replacement for Obamacare yesterday, but a major test for the legislation's future could come Monday when a nonpartisan budget powerhouse casts its own judgment -- and the White House is pre-emptively trying to discredit its findings.

Anthem, the second-largest health insurer in the nation, called on lawmakers to approve the American Health Care Act "as quickly as possible," noting the "time to act is now," according to Politico.

For President Trump, it was an important endorsement during a week that has featured backlash not just from Democrats, but Republicans in both the House and Senate who are no friends of House Speaker Paul Ryan and believe the new bill doesn't go far enough to separate itself from Obamacare.

The plan is also still opposed by other large industry groups, such as the American Medical Association, AARP and the American Hospital Association.

The AMA warned that while Obamacare is "imperfect," the Republican plan would result in some Americans losing their coverage.

A major test for the GOP Obamacare bill will come Monday when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office will announce how much the proposal will cost and how many Americans might lose coverage.

But the White House is already pushing back, arguing that the CBO's projections of how many Americans would be covered under Obamacare ended up being wildly wrong.

"Look at how off they were last time," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. "If you're looking at the CBO for accuracy, you're looking in the wrong place. They were way, way off last time in every aspect of how they scored and projected Obamacare."

Trump has mostly laid low this week, avoiding extensive encounters with the media or lengthy public appearances.

He's even been more subdued on Twitter since last weekend's flurry of dispatches accusing former President Barack Obama of ordering a wiretap of Trump Tower.

Those allegations left Trump aides flustered trying to elaborate or offer evidence when questioned by reporters and during White House press briefings.

Trump successfully changed the subject this week with the Republicans' unveiling of the Obamacare replacement plan.

Spicer said Trump is expected to travel more in the coming weeks, and he could be planning a major offensive in the red-state backyards of holdout Republican members of Congress.

The only officially announced stop so far is on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn., a city where health care is a nearly $40 billion industry. Nashville is home to the Hospital Corporation of America, which operates 168 medical centers in the U.S. and London.

Trump's visit will also fall on the same day that The Hermitage, the historic home of former President Andrew Jackson, will celebrate what would have been Old Hickory's 250th birthday, according to The Tennessean newspaper.

Trump embraces comparisons between himself and Jackson, and even has his portrait hanging in the Oval Office.

Also yesterday, the president celebrated new employment numbers that showed a 235,000 net increase in jobs in February, his first full month in office.

Spicer tried to swat away questions about how Trump could exalt jobs numbers that he railed against as "phony" under Obama during the election.

"He said to quote him very clearly," Spicer told reporters. "They have been phony in the past, but it's very real now."

Trump also received good news on one of his most high-profile appointments. The American Bar Association declared Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch "well-qualified" to serve, its strongest recommendation. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to kick off hearings on Gorsuch's nomination March 20.

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