Study: PPACA Might Add $530B to the National Deficit in the Next Decade

A study released today predicts the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will add between $340 billion and $530 billion to the growing federal deficit.

The George Mason University study's author Charles Blahous — a former economic adviser to George W. Bush and a President Obama-appointed trustee for Medicare and Social Security— questions the scoring mechanism the Congressional Budget Office initially used to calculate estimated savings from implementing PPACA. He concludes in the study that the CBO 'double-counted' and included mandatory Medicare savings in its PPACA cost-reduction estimate.

To help curb costs, Mr. Blahous advocates for getting rid of two-thirds of the subsidies for health insurance exchanges, chopping all new health subsidies and ousting Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program expansions, all part of the PPACA.

The Obama Administration has gone on the defensive, insisting the healthcare law will save federal money in the long run.

"One former Bush Administration official is wrongly claiming that some of the savings in the Affordable Care Act are 'double-counted' and that the law actually increases the deficit," Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy Jeanne Lambrew wrote on the White House blog. "This claim is false."

More Articles on the PPACA:

White House Diverting $500M to Help IRS Pay for Healthcare Law Details
Health Insurance Industry to Move Forward Regardless of Health Law Decision
Liberal Justices Seem Prepared to Uphold PPACA's Medicaid Expansion

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Webinars