With Republicans scrambling to find every possible dollar to pay for Trump's "massive" tax reform package, on Wednesday morning a new analysis by the CBO calculated that repealing ObamaCare's individual mandate - an idea that had been floated previously by Trump - would save $338 billion over 10 years. CBO previously estimated repeal would save $416b over 10 years due to reduced use of Obamacare subsidies, demonstrating once again how "fluid" government forecasts are.
The report was released as the Senate prepares to unveil its own version of the Tax reform bill amid growing GOP dissent, and comes as some Republicans are pushing for repealing the mandate within tax reform, as a way to help pay for tax cuts. Still, as The Hill reports, that idea has met resistance from some Republican leaders who do not want to mix up health care and taxes. Previously the CBO had come under fire on Tuesday from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who slammed the agency after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told The Hill that he had been informed that the CBO was changing its analysis of the mandate to find significantly less savings.
Just as notable was the CBO's announcement that it was changing the way it analyzes the mandate, which Republicans suspect would show less government savings and fewer people becoming uninsured as a results.
"The agencies are in the process of revising their methods to estimate the repeal of the individual mandate," he said. "However, because that work is not complete and significant changes to the individual mandate are now being considered as part of the budget reconciliation process, the agencies are publishing this update without incorporating major changes to their analytical methods."
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who has been one of the most vocal advocates of including repeal of the individual mandate in the tax bill, has touted the savings that would come as a result. His team said it is confident that the scoring will include similar numbers to previous reports. "We’re confident the CBO estimate will still show a substantial — north of $300 billion — savings for tax reform," Caroline Tabler, spokeswoman for Cotton, told the Washington Examiner in an email.
CBO has been criticized for years for its analyses on the effects of the individual mandate. Republicans have charged that the mandate isn't as effective as CBO concludes and have said they want to see it repealed. Some Obamacare supporters also have said it should be stronger by becoming more expensive or should be more heavily enforced.
While the CBO calculation is a boost to Republicans who want to repeal the mandate in tax reform, because it means there are still significant savings to be had from repealing the mandate, mandate repeal still faces long odds. Repealing the mandate - a broadly unpopular decision in many states - could also destabilize health insurance markets by removing an incentive for healthy people to enroll.
Earlier in the day, the CBO said that according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" would increase deficits over the next decade by $1.4 trillion, which is good enough to slip under the $1.5 trillion limit required for reconciliation. The CBO did however add that the additional debt service would boost the 10-year increase in deficits to $1.7 trillion.