BUDGET/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA): “A bipartisan bill to stabilize Obamacare would cut the federal deficit by $3.8 billion but wouldn’t do much to change health insurance premiums for 2018, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. It would not substantially change the number of people who are covered.
The report is about the bipartisan bill negotiated by Sens. Lamar Lamar Alexander, (R.-Tenn) and Patty Murray, (D-Wash) which has broad support in the Senate but is unlikely to get a swift vote given opposition from President Donald Trump as well as from House Republicans.
CBO said the savings would stem in part from letting states offer so-called copper plans — or lower cost policies that appeal to healthier enrollees in the Obamacare markets…
The CBO found there is no additional cost to Congress appropriating money for that cost-sharing program because the spending has been done in the past.
But CBO estimated that it’s already too late for the bill to impact 2018 premiums as Alexander and Murray had originally hoped. But the agency said it would help keep rates steady in 2019.”
-Adam Cancryn and Jennifer Haberkorn, “CBO: Bipartisan Obamacare bill would cut deficit, keep coverage stable,” Politico, Oct. 25, 2017 12:07pm