That whole "Obamacare is doomed to fail" line from Republicans is getting harder and harder to defend by the day. A
new report from the Congressional Budget Office makes their protestations sound even more ridiculous. The top line finding:
Relative to their previous projections made in February 2014, CBO and JCT now estimate that the ACA’s coverage provisions will result in lower net costs to the federal government: The agencies currently project a net cost of $36 billion for 2014, $5 billion less than the previous projection for the year; and $1,383 billion for the 2015–2024 period, $104 billion less than the previous projections.
The
other good news:
- Health insurance premiums are lower than CBO originally projected, saving the government $190 billion;
- "12 million more nonelderly people will have health insurance in 2014 than would have had it in the absence of the ACA;"
- The number of uninsured will fall to 30 million by 2017 and will remain there through 2024, absent other reforms;
- The projection made originally in 2012 that the ACA would reduce the deficit is still valid, and deficit reduction is greater than anticipated two years ago.
Additionally, they project that premiums will rise only "slightly" in 2015, by about $100 for the mid-level plans that have proven to be the most popular in the exchanges. They also say that those premium hikes will be caused more by increasing health care costs than the having more and sicker people—those with pre-existing conditions—now in the risk pool.
Lower premiums, 12 million more people insured, lower costs to the government and further deficit reduction. Try repealing all that, Republicans.
