Fewer Americans Will Be Insured Under Obamacare, Says New CBO Report

The primary reason the latest cost estimate is lower is that CBO is now projecting the ACA will be less effective in expanding coverage – primarily because more people would have been insured even without the ACA.

A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report projects Obamacare will still contain costs taxpayers did not face before the new health care law passed and will ultimately insure fewer Americans than originally predicted. The Washington Post missed the point when they published a front-page article saying the CBO’s findings showed Obamacare provides savings.

The CBO report actually:

– Re-estimates the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) costs, not savings or effectiveness in cost containment;
– Revises past projections based on new data;
– And evaluates only part of the ACA.

The CBO projects that by 2025; 25 million fewer Americans will be insured because of the ACA. This new figure is down 2 million from CBO’s January report. Overall, roughly 70 percent of the net cost reduction in the latest revision (dropping from $1.35 trillion over 2016 to 2025 to $1.21 trillion after including savings provisions) comes from an updated projection that the ACA will cover fewer people.

It is understandable given the persistent controversies surrounding the ACA that its advocates would want to seize on any report that could appear to shed a favorable light on the law. Yet, the latest CBO report does not support the favorable claims being made on behalf of the ACA.

More From NCPA: