Repealing ObamaCare would increase the budget deficit by $350 billion over 10 years, according to a new study.
The analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) finds that repealing the law’s spending on providing coverage would save $1.55 trillion, but that would be canceled out by repealing $800 billion in tax increases and $1.1 trillion in Medicare and other cuts.
The CRFB warned that Republicans should be trying to reduce the debt, not increase it, and that they also will need savings in order to pay for a replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
{mosads}
“Any changes to the ACA should be designed to reduce, not increase, the unsustainable growth in the federal debt,” the group said in its analysis.
“Savings from repealing parts of the ACA must be large enough to not only finance repeal of any of ACA’s offsets, but also to pay for whatever ‘replace’ legislation is put forward. This is not an easy task, and it will likely require policymakers to retain or replace the majority of ACA’s health and revenue offsets.”
Republicans have considered keeping some of the ObamaCare taxes in place, recognizing that they need to be able to pay for a replacement for the law, but it is far from clear that they will actually do so.
Under “dynamic scoring,” a method of analysis that takes into account the economic effects of repeal, the cost of repeal would be calculated at a lower figure: $150 billion over 10 years, according to the group.
Estimates on the actual Republican repeal bill are likely to differ because under the fast-track rules the GOP is using, lawmakers cannot repeal every provision in the law.