Not all surprises are good. When it comes to Obamacare, the original projections are turning into unfortunately different realities. For the next 8 days, The Heritage Foundation is going to highlight one of the various changes in Obamacare projections (e.g., cost, enrollment, etc.) from when the law first passed until now.
One of Obamacare’s primary goals was to dramatically reduce the number of uninsured. To achieve this, Obamacare depends on a Medicaid expansion, new government subsidies funneled through exchanges, and an individual mandate to get people covered.
In 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that Obamacare would insure 32 million non-elderly people by 2019, leaving 23 million non-elderly Americans uninsured.
In 2012, the CBO updated its projection to show that Obamacare would provide coverage for 36 million people through Medicaid and subsidized coverage in the government-run exchanges, leaving 30 million Americans uninsured in 2022.
Surprise: That’s a projected increase of 7 million additional Americans who will remain uninsured despite Obamacare’s costly efforts to expand coverage.
“Seven swans-a-swimming?” Seven million more-a-sinking is more like it.
12 Days of Obamacare Surprises:
4. Increased exchange subsidies…
3. Big tax increases…
2. The small business tax credit…
1. And the individual mandate.