Repealing healthcare reform would add $109 billion to the national deficit in the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office's updated numbers released Tuesday afternoon.
The figures from the nonpartisan CBO come just a few weeks after the Supreme Court upheld most of health reform law, finding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act constitutional.
If H.R. 6079, passed July 11, repeals the Affordable Care Act, CBO estimates it could have serious financial repercussions, reducing direct spending by $890 billion and reducing revenues by $1 trillion from 2013 to 2022, therefore adding $109 billion to federal budget deficit.
The numbers support Democrats looking to keep reform going, Politico noted.
Some red states have declared war on what critics like to call "Obamacare," vowing to opt out of Medicaid expansion, one of the reform law's key provisions. Although it's unclear how many states will forgo expanding Medicaid, CBO did account for opt-outs in its estimates.
If states decline, that means 3 million fewer people will gain coverage and $84 billion less in federal spending, The Washington Post noted. CBO acknowledged that "some states will probably forgo the expansion entirely."
For more information:
- read the CBO statement on the reports
- see the statement on estimates of health repeal
- check out the statement on the insurance coverage
- read the Politico article
- read the Washington Post article
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