Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–November 18, 2009. Last night CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) issued an estimate of the budgetary effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act proposed by Senator Reid. Among other things, the bill would establish a mandate for most legal residents of the United States to obtain health insurance; set up insurance “exchanges” through which certain individuals and families could receive federal subsidies to substantially reduce the cost of purchasing that coverage; significantly expand eligibility for Medicaid; substantially reduce the growth of Medicare’s payment rates for most services (relative to the growth rates projected under current law); impose an excise tax on insurance plans with relatively high premiums; and make various other changes to the federal tax code, Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs.
