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Report – The Cost of Full Repeal of the Affordable Care Act

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, January 4, 2017 – “The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” includes a number of provisions to expand health care coverage, as well as several offsets that raise taxes and slow the growth of Medicare spending. According to our latest estimates, repealing the ACA in its entirety would cost roughly $350 billion through 2027 under conventional scoring and $150 billion using dynamic scoring.

In this paper, we offer rough estimates for a variety of full and partial repeal options. In addition to our full repeal score, we find that:

  • Repealing just ACA’s coverage provisions would save $1.55 trillion through 2027 ($1.75 trillion on a dynamic basis).
  • Repealing ACA’s coverage and revenue provisions would save $750 billion ($950 billion on a dynamic basis) through 2027.
  • Delaying repeal of most coverage provisions but not revenue offsets or mandates would significantly reduce potential savings. A 4-year delay would reduce savings to $300 billion ($500 billion on a dynamic basis).
  • Repealing ACA would increase the number of uninsured people by 23 million.
  • Legislation to replace the ACA with other coverage provisions could be costly, likely requiring policymakers to retain the majority of ACA’s offsets….”
  • See also Robert Pear, New York Times – Republicans’ 4-Step Plan to Repeal the Affordable Care Act – “Though much remains unclear, a determined Republican president and Congress can gut President Obama’s signature accomplishment.”

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