Washington, D.C. - Today, the independent, nonpartisan CMS Office of the Actuary offered a dramatically different projection than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) regarding the impact of the House-passed American Health Care Act on Medicaid spending and insurance coverage. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said the report has important implications for drafting the Senate bill:
"As we work to address the continuing failures of ObamaCare, it is important to note that many independent experts do not agree with CBO's assumptions," said Senator Toomey. "Considering these very different conclusions, and the uncertainty surrounding the future behavior of state legislatures and individual consumers, Congress should proceed carefully and avoid writing legislation just to satisfy a set of scoring guidelines."
Background:
• The Actuary predicts Medicaid savings from the House-passed bill are 50 percent below CBO's projection, accounting for a difference of over $400 billion.
• The Actuary also says 10 million more people will retain insurance under the House-passed bill than CBO predicted, a variance of 45 percent.
• The CMS Actuary report also follows yesterday's release of a Galen Institute study that shows the House-proposed per capita allotment reform of Medicaid would have a negligible impact on the federal budget.
