Obamacare Revision Will Reduce US Deficit but Leave Many Uninsured

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Summary: The GOP’s revisions to Obamacare were met with the numbers, showing that millions less would have insurance in the next ten years.

The Congressional Budget Office has run the numbers on the proposed adjustments to the federal healthcare law and they aren’t exactly pretty. The positives are that the federal deficit would be greatly curbed but at the expense of millions of Americans losing insurance. The CBO predicts that 24 million less people will have health coverage over the next ten years. They also stated that the deficit would be lowered $337 billion during that same time.

  

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The budget analysts believe premiums would be 15 to 20 percent higher during the first year compared to what they are now with Obamacare but then would drop to be 10 percent lower on average by 2026. Older Americans would generally pay more while younger Americans would have lower premiums.

With the report comes some from The White House stating the report is wrong while others are praising it. The House’s Republican leaders believe the report reinforced their stance that the plan helps cut the deficit while giving Americans the freedom to be insured or not – their choice.

House Speaker Paul Ryan stated that the legislation “is about giving people more choices and better access to a plan they want and can afford. When people have more choices, costs go down. That’s what this report shows.”

Part of the reduction in insured Americans comes from the elimination of the penalty imposed on those without insurance. Removing the fine will prompt many to drop their health plans. The reduction in insured may also come from the change in tax credits making it less affordable for some to keep insurance and from some states that opt to undo their Medicaid expansion programs.

As Sen. Susan Collins explained, “These kinds of estimates are going to cause revisions in the bill, almost certainly. I don’t think that the bill that is being considered now is the bill that ultimately will be the one that we vote on in the Senate.”

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn added that Republicans want to improve the coverage numbers but “when you don’t punish people for their refusal to buy a government-approved insurance [plan], some people are going to make the decision not to buy it.” The CBO agreed with this and accounted the immediate increase in uninsured to this reasoning.

The GOP is not completely tossing the healthcare program started by former President Barack Obama. In essence, they are just revising it. They are keeping the most popular and possible the most important parts of the Affordable Care Act. The two parts being kept in the revised healthcare program are allowing children up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ plans and not allowing insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. The other parts of Obamacare that people have not liked such as the insurance mandate and subsidies to help buy coverage will be gone.

What part of Obamacare would you like to see eliminated? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about Obamacare, read these articles:

• Obamacare Protected by the Supreme Court Once Again
• 2 Million Enroll in Obamacare
• Customers Paying Obamacare Surcharge in Florida Restaurant

Photo: flickr.com