Budget Report: More Employers Than Previously Estimated Will Drop Health Coverage
About 7 million people, nearly double the earlier estimates, will no longer get health insurance from their employers because of changes to the tax code made by the health law, according to CBO projections.
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Why CBO Figures More Employers Will Drop Health Coverage
The Congressional Budget Office says the year-end fiscal cliff deal that preserved lower tax rates for most households produced a little-noticed side-effect: Fewer people will get health insurance from their employer over the next decade. That nugget of economic thinking pops up in the nonpartisan office’s annual update of its budget and economic forecast (Radnofsky, 2/5).
The Fiscal Times: 7 Million Will Lose Employee Coverage Under Obamacare
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 7 million people will lose their employer-based health insurance coverage under President Obama's signature health care law, nearly twice the previous estimate. Changes to the tax code under Obamacare, said the CBO, have altered the incentives for the business sector, which will likely prefer to pay the penalty rather than the cost of workers’ health insurance. Overall, 27 million people are expected to gain coverage by 2017, roughly 5 million less than originally projected (Ehley, 2/5).
Bloomberg: Obama's Health-Insurance Expansion Eroding, CBO Projects
The number of Americans projected to gain insurance from the U.S. health care law is eroding, by at least 5 million people, as the Obama administration struggles to implement the $1.3 trillion overhaul amid Republican opposition. About 27 million people are expected to gain coverage by 2017, according to a report today from the Congressional Budget Office (Wayne, 2/5).
National Journal: Budget Office Predicts Rocky Start For Health Care Law
The Obama administration has been publicly upbeat about the coming rollout of its health care law. But a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office suggests that at least one set of influential observers anticipates some turbulence in the law’s first years. On several important measures of the law's success, CBO's numbers are pessimistic compared with earlier estimates: Fewer uninsured people will get coverage, insurance options will be more limited, and more employers will stop covering their workers (Sanger-Katz, 2/6).
The Hill: Obama Health Law Will Cost $1.3T, CBO Says
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated Tuesday that President Obama's signature health care law will cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years. The figure represents a slight increase since August, when the nonpartisan budget office estimated that the law would cost about $1.17 trillion before 2022 (Viebeck, 2/5).
NBC News: Fewer To Get Health Insurance Under Reform Law, CBO Says
The new health care reform law is not going to provide health insurance for as many people, at least not as quickly, as the Obama administration had hoped, according to the latest look at the economy from the Congressional Budget Office. That's mostly because of the deal Congress made last month to keep the country from going over the fiscal cliff, the CBO says. About 8 million people who would have been insured by their employers will probably lose their coverage because of tax changes, the CBO projects. … But overall, instead of 32 million to 34 million new people getting health insurance by 2017, probably only about 27 million people will be covered by then, the CBO projects (Fox, 2/6).