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Repealing health care would increase deficit by $230 billion
The new Republican-controlled House has laid out its first major target - the federal law aimed at overhauling the health-care system. But an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warns that repealing health care legislation could increase the federal deficit by $230 billion in the next decade and leave 32 million more Americans uninsured.
Introduced by House Republicans on January 5, the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act," also known as H.R. 2, targets the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as the provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 that are related to health care. Deliberations on the bill are expected to start immediately.
The CBO report estimates that the increase in the budget deficit if the legislation were repealed would be equal to what would be saved under current health care legislation - an "increase in deficits projected for fiscal years 2012 through 2019 is likely to be similar in size to ... the reduction in deficits that was originally estimated to result from the enacted legislation."
In addition, the report found that the repeal would add an additional $1.2 trillion to the deficit in the second decade after its enactment, and would force most Americans to pay more for private health insurance.