CBO says repeal of the Affordable Care Act will increase budget deficit

Responding to a letter from the new Speaker of the House John Boehner, the Congressional Budget Office weighed in on the budgetary impact of a complete repeal of health care reform. The CBO found that repealing Obama’s signature piece of legislation would increase the deficit by $230 billion over the next 10 years while leaving 32 million more Americans without insurance by 2019. The CBO also found that premiums for employer provided coverage would be slightly higher if health reform were repealed. Although the CBO produced no hard estimates of the effect of repeal after the first 10 years, they advised that repeal "would probably continue to increase budget deficits ... in subsequent decades."

In response to the CBO’s report, the Speaker insisted that the repeal would save the government money and accused Democratic lawmakers of using gimmicks to achieve a good score. He was quoted as saying that the "CBO is entitled to their opinion."

-- The Hill / CBO