Repealing ObamaCare could increase U.S. debt by $137 billion

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published 19 June 2015

The release of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation report Friday offered some dismal predictions for budget deficits if ObamaCare is repealed. In the first analysis of the issue in three years, the CBO said that if Obama's healthcare reform is repealed, the U.S. deficit will increase by as much as $137 billion in the next 10 years. The added debts would stem from the increased number of uninsured Americans, and the consequential rise in Medicare costs. An estimated 19 million additional Americans would become uninsured by 2016 if ObamaCare were repealed.

Previously, in July 2012, the CBO estimated that the debt increase caused by an ObamaCare repeal would be roughly $109 billion — almost $30 billion less than the latest estimate. The report's release comes just one day after the House voted to repeal an ObamaCare fundraising provision, and days before the Supreme Court is expected to rule on a key piece of the healthcare law.