CBO: Health bill would save taxpayers money

Bipartisan Senate measure seeks to stabilize insurance market

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan bill to shore up insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act would save the government money but not substantially change the number of people with health insurance, according to congressional budget analysts.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office assumed, however, that the bill would not be passed in time to affect 2018 premiums. It also assumed that payments to insurance companies for discounts they’re required to give lower-income customers will continue even if the bill does not become law.

A bill introduced this month by Sens. Lamar Alexander, RTenn., and Patty Murray, DWash., aims to stabilize that market by guaranteeing insurers will get reimbursed for the cost sharing reduction subsidies through 2019. Trump stopped the payments this month, saying the administration lacked permission from Congress to continue them. A federal judge is expected to decide soon whether the payments should continue while a GOP challenge to their legality continues.

The CBO concluded in August that continuing the payments would save taxpayers money.

But in their analysis of the Alexander-Murray bill, CBO assumed under budgetary rules that the subsidy payments would continue even if the bill is not passed. That resulted in a smaller savings to the government.