The supporters of ObamaCare promoted the idea that all Americans would have coverage. That idea has been blown away with a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that says that in 2022 over 30 million (non-elderly) Americans will not have insurance. This should be a knife in the heart of the plan.
Should Obamacare still be the law of the land in 2022, we seriously doubt that there will be ONLY 30 million uninsured. Our guess is that the number will be closer to 100 million. First of all, we have the unrestricted admission of illegal immigrants will blow the doors off the numbers due to Obama's "Dream Act" administrative action. Secondly, unemployment will continue to grow due to the NAFTA effect of moving jobs off shore.
Thirdly and most important, those who obtained their insurance through their employers will find they have to purchase their own and will not do so. Their bosses will find it is economically better for the company to pay the fine imposed by ObamaCare than to continue to pay the premiums. Some businesses might add money into their employee's checks to help them purchase the coverage, however, many will not.
However, we suspect that Obamacare will be significantly changed if not completely abandoned by the time 2022 comes around. There are just too many costs associated with the plan, too many new government agencies, and too many new programs for the law to be unchanged.
Conservative Tom
CBO: Obamacare Will Leave 30 Million Uninsured
President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
(CNSNews.com) -- A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report says that under the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, 30 million non-elderly Americans will remain without health insurance in 2022.
One of the main arguments the Obama administration made for passing the Affordable Care Act was that it would provide coverage for the uninsured.
Currently, accoriding to CBO, there are 53 million uninsured persons in the United States, including uninsured illegal aliens. The CBO estimates that in 2022--8 years after the Affordable Care Act has been fully implemented--30 million people will remain uninsured.
Moreover, under Obamacare, 8 percent of legal U.S. residents will remain without health insurance in 2022, according to CBO.
The report was done to assess the fiscal impact of the Supreme Court June Obamacare decision.
“CBO and JCT [Joint Committee on Taxation] now estimate that the ACA, in comparison with prior law before the enactment of the ACA, will reduce the number of nonelderly people without health insurance coverage by 14 million in 2014 and by 29 million or 30 million in the latter part of the coming decade, leaving 30 million nonelderly residents uninsured by the end of the period,” the report said.
“Before the Supreme Court’s decision, the latter number had been 27 million,” states the report.
As a result of the Supreme Court decision, states are no longer obligated under Obamacare to expand eligibility for their Medicaid programs.
“Some states will probably forgo the expansion entirely; some are likely to expand coverage to everyone whose income is below 138 percent of the FPL [federal poverty level]; and if the flexibility is allowed, some states may choose partial expansions. Further, states may be able to make those choices in any year after 2014,” the report said.
“The updated estimates by CBO and JCT represent their assessment of the middle of the distribution of the many possible outcomes arising from the Supreme Court’s decision,” states the CBO report.
On the same day the Supreme Court issued its ruling, President Barack Obama delivered a speech in which he said 30 million Americans presently without health coverage will now have the opportunity to obtain affordable health plans.
“If you’re one of the 30 million Americans who don’t yet have health insurance, starting in 2014, this law will offer you an array of quality, affordable, private health insurance plans to choose from,” said Obama.
However, as the CBO concludes, despite all the new government regulations and bureaucracies, taxes and subsidies created by Obamacare, there will still be 30 million uninsured people in the United States a decade from now
From the article…
ReplyDelete"Moreover, under Obamacare, 8 percent of legal U.S. residents will remain without health insurance in 2022, according to CBO."
Stated differently, 92% of legal U.S. residents will have insurance. I didn't think you would be crying over all the illegal immigrants who will be left uninsured. The 30 million uninsured figure should be interpreted in the context of the 53 million uninsured (including the illegal immigrants) that we had before the ACA. In other words, the CBO projects that the ACA will reduce the number of uninsured by 23 million.
As you know, I would prefer some form of universal healthcare, but this is better than what we had before the ACA. By the way, you may have noted that by 2022, if the Congress had repealed the ACA, CBO estimates the repeal of ACA would INCREASE the federal budget deficit by $109 billion over the period. Since you are concerned about federal deficits, I thought that would get your attention.
But I have my doubts that projection would hold up, because the states that refuse to take the money will see their population health statistics decline, and that will put political pressure on them and their budgets. Some of the governors like Perry must think that having a sick population does not cost money. Texas already ranks 44th in the nation in health statistics, and they will drop lower.
--David