| Wait… PPACA isn’t Going Exactly According to Plan? No Way! |
| That’s right, PPACA is going to cost more than originally anticipated according to estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Tuesday. Back in August, CBO estimated that the overall 10 year cost of health reform would be $1.165 trillion, but they are now saying that it will cost $1.329 trillion. Remember way back in March of 2010, just before the law was enacted, and they said it would cost a mere $950 billion? Anyhoo, these adjusted costs are due to the lower marginal tax rates that were included in the fiscal cliff deal. The concern is these lowered marginal tax rates may lead to a variety of issues, including fewer employers offering health insurance coverage to employees, fewer people being covered through the exchanges and a potential increase in the number of people who enroll in Medicaid.The CBO estimates also indicate that it may take longer for people to obtain health insurance coverage. Between select states opting into the law’s Medicaid expansion and the establishment of insurance exchanges across the country, the CBO estimates that only 15 million people will get coverage in 2014 when most of the law’s major provisions go into effect. CBO is attributing these new, lower numbers to a combination of things, namely the readiness of exchanges, the states’ ability to expand the Medicaid program and absorb the associated costs and the public’s response to the newly available coverage options. CBO further noted “as a result, revised estimates for 2014 and 2015 reflect more people with employment-based coverage and more who will be uninsured than in the previous projections.”Article from NAHU, National Association of Health Underwriters, February 8 |
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