Study: Repealing ObamaCare would increase uninsured by 24M

If ObamaCare were repealed, 24 million fewer people would have health insurance in 2021, according to a new study. 

The study from the Urban Institute finds that 14.5 million fewer people would have coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program and 8.8 million fewer people would have individual private coverage like that offered on the health law’s marketplaces. Another 700,000 fewer people would have health insurance through their jobs.

At the same time, repeal would reduce federal government spending on healthcare by $927 billion over 10 years, the study finds. However, the Congressional Budget Office has found that despite the lower spending, the deficit would increase because ObamaCare’s tax increases and Medicare cuts would also be repealed. 

State health spending would also increase without the Affordable Care Act (ACA), by $68.5 billion, as states would have to pick up more of the cost of care for people who lacked insurance.

“ACA repeal would reduce federal government spending, which appears to be one of the goals of those advocating repeal,” the study finds. “However, that reduction in spending comes at a cost in other areas. The number of uninsured people would increase by 24 million or more.”

“Modest- and low-income families would forgo health care because of cost and lack of coverage, and health care providers would end up paying for more uncompensated care,” it adds. 

The study looks only at repeal of ObamaCare, not at the effects of any potential replacement plan. 

House Republicans are planning to release the outline of a plan later this month. 

According to an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the healthcare plan put forward by Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, would not do much to expand coverage after repealing ObamaCare, and 21 million people would still lose their insurance. 

The Urban Institute study finds that 66 percent of those losing coverage would have at least one full-time worker in the family. 

Forty-nine percent of those losing coverage would be white, 14 percent black and 26 percent Hispanic, the study finds.