The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have issued their report on the estimated spending and revenue effects of H.R. 6079, odiously referred to as the "Repeal of Obamacare Act," which passed the House of Representatives on July 11, 2012.
The report issued today advises Mr. Boehner and his merry band that their thirty third effort to repeal the ACA would increase the Federal Deficit to the tune of $109 Billion one ten years. Here is the summary paragraph,
Assuming that H.R. 6079 is enacted near the beginning of fiscal year 2013, CBO and JCT estimate that, on balance, the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting that legislation would cause a net increase in federal budget deficits of $109 billion over the 2013–2022 period. Specifically, we estimate that H.R. 6079 would reduce direct spending by $890 billion and reduce revenues by $1 trillion between 2013 and 2022, thus adding $109 billion to federal budget deficits over that period.
Yes, the ACA has items that cost money, such as expansion of Medicaid and CHIP, and money for tax credits to employers to help them buy insurance, all of which add up to $1,171 Billion.
But it also has cost savings such as,
. . . a number of other provisions related to health care that are estimated to reduce net federal outlays (primarily for Medicare). By repealing those provisions, H.R. 6079 would increase other direct spending in the next decade by an estimated $711 billion.
In addition, it has revenue items including,
. . . a number of provisions that are estimated to increase federal revenues (apart from the effect of provisions related to insurance coverage), mostly by increasing the Hospital Insurance (HI) payroll tax and extending it to net investment income for high income taxpayers, and imposing fees or excise taxes on certain manufacturers and insurers. Repealing those provisions would reduce revenues by an estimated $569 billion over the 2013–2022 period.
So the Republicans, in addition to being callous, thoughtless, heartless cretins, have once again voted to blow a hole in the deficit. Anyone who has been paying attention knows this but it is nice to have it verified once again.