CBO: Alexander-Murray Will Provide Savings; Benefit Taxpayers and Low-Income Americans, Not Insurance Companies

“On net, CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that implementing the legislation would reduce the deficit by $3.8 billion over the 2018-2027 period relative to CBO’s baseline. …

“CBO and JCT expect that insurers in almost all areas of the country would be required to issue some form of rebate to individuals and the federal government.”

              - Congressional Budget Office report, October 25, 2017

WASHINGTON, October 25, 2017—Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today released the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report on the Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act of 2017:

“This nonpartisan analysis shows that our bill provides savings and ensures that funding two years of cost-sharing payments will benefit taxpayers and low-income Americans, not insurance companies.

“CBO has also told us that if CSRs are not paid, premiums in 2018 will go up an average of 20%, the federal debt will increase by $194 billion over ten years, due to the extra cost of subsidies to pay the higher premiums, and up to 16 million Americans may live in counties where they are not able to buy any insurance in the individual market.

“Last week, an unusually large group of cosponsors—12 Republican and 12 Democratic United States Senators—released this legislation, which was based on four hearings in the Senate’s health committee plus four meetings for senators not on the committee. All in all, 60 senators participated in the process, and the sooner Congress and the president act, the better.”

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