Elements of July CBO ‘score’ on Healthcare Reform Law not so good
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In July, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its updated “score” of PPACA, as well as, a new cost estimate for repealing the legislation. The revised CBO projections indicate how much the law will cost the federal government over the next 10 years as well as projections on the number of Americans that will be insured and uninsured as a result of the legislation.
Below provides some highlights of the recent CBO release:
- Completely repealing PPACA would increase the federal deficit by $109 billion between the years 2013 and 2022.
- About one-sixth of the population that was intended to be covered by Medicaid by the health reform law lives in states that will not expand their Medicaid program at all over the next 10 years. In total, the CBO assumes that about 6 million fewer people will be enrolled in Medicaid under the law due to the ruling. They feel that between 2-3 million of these people will receive insurance via exchanges instead which means that 3-4 million will remain uninsured.
- About one-third of the potential newly eligible Medicaid population will reside in states that will fully expand coverage under the law’s parameters. These individuals will be enrolled in Medicaid, as they would have been prior to the Supreme Court ruling.
- About half of the population who could be newly eligible for Medicaid will live in states that will only partially expand their Medicaid programs.
- Most troubling in the report is that individual premiums are expected to be 2% higher than those estimated in March of 2012 and higher than the $2,100 per family premium increase the CBO estimated in 2009.
To review the July CBO report, go to http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43471-hr6079.pdf.
(Photo credited to kiplinger.com)
DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, and based on particular situations, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice, financial advice and/or the advice of a licensed insurance or certified human resource professional.
© Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols 2012
