Obamacare Costs Skyrocket

In a mere eight months, health insurance premiums as well as government spending on healthcare will surge, due to Obamacare.

Already, 33 states have refused to build their own health insurance exchanges, due to a “lack of flexibility in creating so-called market-oriented exchanges,” according to Cherylyn LeBon, Policy Director of MyGovCost at the Independent Institute. This stubborn refusal by over half of the nation has tested the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), presenting an unforeseen challenge.

“Implementation has already become an expensive burden with some 159 new government agencies, boards and programs tasked with enforcing 20,000 pages of rules and regulation already associated with the law,” LeBon notes.

“Even more troubling are the promises made regarding the protection of Medicare coverage and benefits,” LeBon warns. “Specifically, $716 billion is taken out of the Medicare program to pay for $1.9 trillion in new health spending over the same time period.”

Over 14 million Americans could face disruptions in coverage, affecting their ability to access health care. Billions of dollars in cuts will result in substantial reductions in payments to Medicare Advantage plans.

LeBon explains that individuals can “calculate government spending programs according to their age and salary,” through the MyGovCost calculator. “An estimated calculation for the years 2013-2049 with the current spending for the average American 45-year-old with a bachelor’s degree making $75 thousand includes a share of spending on Medicare of $ 148, 464. The future federal taxes this individual will pay in order to fund Medicare will be $87,127. More importantly, the taxes this individual pays could have been worth: $301,005.”

As the years drag on, Obamacare’s impact appears more and more devastating. “In 2010, the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the ten-year cost of Obamacare, in terms of its spending increases, was $940 billion. In 2013, CBO’s ten-year spending estimate was $1.88 trillion. By 2015, the CBO’s ten-year spending projections are likely to exceed $2.5 trillion,” LeBon concludes.

But that’s not all. According to a report conducted by the GAO, Obamacare will end up adding $6.2 trillion dollars to the deficit over the next 75 years.

Ali Swee is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run jointly by Accuracy in Academia and its sister organization— Accuracy in Media.
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