The bipartisan Senate bill that would help to stabilize Obamacare is estimated to reduce the federal deficit by $3.8 billion from 2018 to 2027 but would not significantly reduce the number of people who are uninsured or affect the price of premiums, according to a report released Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation.
The bill, commonly known as Alexander-Murray because it was mainly drafted by Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray, the committee’s top-ranking Democrat, would fund cost-sharing reduction subsidies for the rest of the year and for the next two years. It would allow states to make changes to Obamacare more quickly and would allow more people to buy “copper” plans, which have lower premiums and higher deductibles.
