All the issues are the same — I’ll keep saying that — because the failure of Republicans, conservatives, and Christians in the information war always results in the facts being little known. Here’s John R. Graham writing at the National Center for Policy Analysis:
Last week’s Congressional Budget Office’s Updated Budget Projections: 2016 to 2026 significantly reduced estimates of Obamacare’s benefits, relative to CBO’s estimates published in 2010, when the law was signed:
- In 2010, CBO estimated Obamacare would leave 22 million uninsured in 2016 through 2019. This month, CBO estimates Obamacare will leave 27 million uninsured through 2019 – an increase of almost one quarter.
- In 2010, CBO estimated Obamacare would leave 162 million with employer-based health benefits in 2016 through 2019. This month, CBO estimates Obamacare will leave only 155 million with employer-based plans. The number will decrease to 152 million in 2019.
- In 2010, CBO estimated Obamacare exchanges would enroll 21 million people in 2016, increasing to 24 million in 2019. This month, CBO estimates Obamacare’s exchanges will enroll only 13 million people this year, and 20 million in 2019.
- In 2010, CBO estimated Obamacare would result in 52 million Americans remaining or falling into dependency on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the welfare programs jointly funded by state and federal governments that subsidizes low-income households’ health care, in 2016. CBO estimated that figure would drop slightly to 51 million in 2019. This month, CBO estimates 68 million will be dependent on the program this year through 2019 – an increase of almost one third in the welfare caseload.
Many observers have recognized that Obamacare is a welfare program camouflaged as a reformed health insurance marketplace. CBO’s new estimate that Obamacare will actually leave five million more uninsured than initially estimated suggests even that camouflage is beginning to fail.
If there is any positive to this news, it is that Obamacare’s exchange spending will be significantly less than initially estimated. CBO has walked back its January 2016 estimate, which figured Obamacare’s exchange tax credits and related spending per enrollee would balloon along with declining enrollment, negating the budget benefit. CBO now believes per enrollee costs will be low.
Read more: NCPA
