Health Care Ruling Will Affect Cost of Law, Number of Those Covered
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Last month’s Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act has both good and bad news for Americans.
According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, about three million people on the lower rung of the income scale won’t have access to free medical coverage as originally dictated by the law.
However, the ruling also means that taxpayers won’t be on the hook for an additional $84 billion since the high court ruled that states have the option of not taking part in a major expansion of the government Medicaid insurance program for the poor.
In spite of these changes, the CBO says the Affordable Care Act, which presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney says he will repeal if he wins the presidency, will remain mostly intact.
Should Obama be reelected, it would likely mean that 30 million people currently without health insurance will get covered by 2022.
Furthermore, the costs of additional coverage will be offset by new taxes and federal spending cuts that would help to lower the federal deficit, the CBO said.
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