The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released a report that shows that ObamaCare is expected to cost $84 billion less than previously projected, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling allowing states to opt out of Medicaid expansion. How is this money saved? Well, they estimate that six million people just had their Medicaid eligibility taken away by a combination of right-wing Justices and asshole Republican governors and legislatures. They estimate that it will cost $3,000 more per person who moves from Medicaid to an exchange. But they estimate that three million people will simply go uninsured, more than offsetting the cost of providing subsidies instead of Medicaid. So, bottom line? Healthcare just got more expensive for about three million people and three million people just lost health coverage. Savings: 84 billion dollars over the next decade. Second bottom line? ObamaCare now does more to balance the federal budget than it did before.
The CBO issued a second report today that takes a look at the budget impact of repealing ObamaCare, as the House voted to do on July 11th. Here’s their conclusion:
What Is the Impact of Repealing the ACA on the Federal Budget?
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.
Let’s do some math here. The CBO previously estimated ObamaCare would save $210 billion over the next decade. Now we can add the $84 billion we saved by stripping 3 million people of their Medicaid coverage without replacing it with anything. We’re up to $294 billion in savings. Now let’s add the $109 billion we save by not repealing ObamaCare, as the Republicans would like us to do.
For your math and reality-challenged wingnut friends, the difference in budgetary savings we get by rejecting the repeal of ObamaCare is $403 billion. Or, we could save $319 billion and provide coverage for the three million people who just lost their Medicaid.