Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told CNBC on Tuesday he accepts the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that the Republican health-care plan would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion over the next decade.
On Monday, Price, an orthopedic surgeon who championed the GOP opposition to Obamacare when he was in Congress, said he "disagreed strenuously" with the CBO report.
But in comments to CNBC's Kayla Tausche on Tuesday morning, Price said he agrees with the finding that the deficit will narrow under the legislation, saying it's "true the bill will lower spending over the long term."
The CBO said Monday that 24 million more Americans would be uninsured than they would be under Obamacare by the year 2026, a figure Price and Office of Management and Budget chief Mick Mulvaney have disputed.
According to Politico, the White House had projected internally that 26 million would lose coverage under the new Republican health-care legislation.
Responding to a question about that figure, Price told CNBC it was his understanding the Office of Management and Budget, which serves the president, had been estimating where the CBO would come in.
That echos what White House communications director Michael Dubke told Politco. "This is OMB trying to project what CBO's score will be using CBO's methodology," Dubke said.
The OMB has not released its analysis of the GOP's American Health Care Act, which would replace Obamacare.