Talking Points Memo has a good analysis of how the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act will affect the federal budget. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the ACA will save an additional $84 billion at a cost of an additional 3 million people left without coverage as a result of some states refusing to participate in the Medicaid expansion. This estimate doesn’t include the cost to hospitals and other providers that will still be required to treat those unfortunate enough to be poor and living in states like Texas or Florida. And the cost of repeal is approximately $100 billion. That probably won’t give pause to the more rabid conservatives seeking the law’s annihilation, but it might be a complicating factor for a Romney administration.
The CBO estimate gives some substance to conjecture about the long-term consequences of the Court’s decision. The federal government and states will realize savings while millions of people who would have received coverage will now be forced to fend for themselves.
