Hatch: CBO Confirms ObamaCare Increasing Health Care Costs to Families, Businesses, States

Congressional Budget Scorekeeper Finds Over $1 Trillion in Tax Hikes, Price of Exchange Subsidies Soars to Over a $1 Trillion, Cuts to Medicare to Fund Law Reach Over $700 Billion

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, said today that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) latest estimate on the President’s health law confirms that ObamaCare increases costs on families, job creators and states. CBO, Congress’ non-partisan budget scorekeeper, found that the law includes over $1 trillion in tax increases, the cost of the exchange subsidies has gone up to over $1 trillion and that the cuts to Medicare to fund the law are now over $700 billion. CBO released this analysis today to take into account the Supreme Court’s recent decision on the law.

“CBO exposed the President’s partisan health law for what it is: a massive expansion of government paid for with over a trillion dollars in tax increases, while increasing costs on the backs of middle-class families, job creators and states during the worst economic downturn in a generation,” said Hatch. “Higher health care costs, more government spending, higher taxes while slashing seniors’ access to Medicare is why the American people continue to oppose this law. It’s bad to its core and must be repealed.”

CBO found that the tax increases in the President’s health law total $1.058 trillion, including $106 billion from the employer mandate tax, $55 billion from the individual mandate, and $165 billion in new pass through taxes on everything from wheelchairs to prescription drugs to health care premiums.

According to CBO, the President’s health law would continue to dramatically increase federal health spending. The exchange subsidies, which will subsidize premiums for families making more than $90,000, will now cost the taxpayers more than a $1 trillion. This is an increase of more than $210 billion since March 2012 or almost $50 billion a month.

CBO found that the health law cuts Medicare by $716 billion over the next 10 years. Senator Hatch has consistently raised concerns about cuts to this program which is facing more than $37 trillion in unfunded liabilities to fund new entitlement spending in the President’s health law.

CBO also concluded that many states would find the law’s Medicaid expansions unworkable. Specifically, CBO stated that states may “…fear that the federal government, which faces its own severe budgetary pressures, will ultimately reduce the federal matching rate and that if it did so, rolling back expansions already in place would be difficult.”

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