Health care repeal would widen deficit by $109 billion, says CBO
— -- Repealing the health care law passed in 2010 and upheld by the Supreme Court in June would increase the federal deficit by $109 billion over ten years, a new Congressional Budget Office analysis estimates.
The CBO on Tuesday rated the health care repeal bill passed by the House earlier this month and found that "the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting that legislation would cause a net increase in federal budget deficits of $109 billion over the 2013—2022 period." The primary reason for the deficit increase, the report showed, was the repeal of several tax increases within the health care law. While the repeal bill would reduce direct federal spending by $890 billion over that period, it would also slash more than $1 trillion in new taxes.
The House repeal bill, which passed unanimously among Republicans and received support from a handful of Democrats, is not expected to become law under the current Congress.
In a separate analysis, the CBO also measured the impact of the June Supreme Court ruling that struck down parts of the health care law, but left core provisions intact, and found that it would save $84 billion because of reduced Medicaid spending.
The CBO estimated in 2011 that the health care law would reduce the federal deficit by $210 billion over 10 years because of the law's revenue increases.
