Supreme Court Decision on the Affordable Care Act Projected to Save Federal Government $84 Billion

In an articlefor the New York Times, author Robert Pear dissected the Congressional Budget Office’s revised estimates on the effects of the Affordable Care Act after the landmark Supreme Court decision to uphold the law.  A key portion of the decision alters the legislation to permit States to opt out of the proposed Medicaid expansion.  The CBO predicts that an additional 3 million people will now go without health insurance due to this new aspect of the law, but the agency also expects the federal government should save approximately $84 billion over the next 11 years.  The Affordable Care Act is still projected to provide coverage to 30 million of the 60 million presently uninsured Americans at a price tag of $1.7 trillion over the course of 11 years.  The bulk of the cost emerges after 2014, when many provisions of the Affordable Care Act will take effect.