Obamacare’s insurance coverage will cost 11 percent less than previously estimated over the next ten years largely due to fewer people getting coverage, according to new budget estimates.
The Congressional Budget Office released a report Monday outlining the costs for the health insurance provision of the healthcare law over the next decade in addition to other budget projections.The report notes that the net cost to the federal government over the next decade will be $1.2 billion, which is $142 billion less than the office estimated back in January.
The reason for the lower cost is twofold. The first is a lower estimate of the costs of subsidizing health insurance through the law’s exchanges. The second is a slightly lower estimate of the number of people who will gain insurance coverage because of the law, the CBO said.
The CBO now projects the law will reduce the number of people without health insurance by 24 to 25 million.
The agency also estimates lower costs for the exchange subsidies, which will be $849 billion over 2016 to 2025, a 20 percent decrease below previous projection. The reduction is a result of projections of slower growth in premiums and a slightly lower exchange enrollment.
The federal cost of additional enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Protection will be $847 billion, which is 8 percent less than January’s projections. The reduction is due in large part because about 2 million fewer people will enroll in the programs than earlier projections.
The projections were released less than a week after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in King v. Burwell, which focuses on whether the government can dole out subsidies to federal-run exchanges. The court could choose to wipe out subsidies for residents in 36 states.
