In her March 21 opinion column, “Affordable Care Act is unaffordable for many in U.S.,” Debra J. Saunders claims that the Congressional Budget Office missed their estimate by more than half. What she left out is that 25 states opted out of Obamacare after the Supreme Court allowed that option, which was quite likely not considered in the “past faulty predictions” by the CBO in 2010. That court decision positions the original estimates the CBO made much closer to what would have occurred had all states participated.
She also lambasts premium increases without noting that coverage required under the ACA is generally more robust than previous plans. Studies also show that premiums would have risen much higher without the ACA (Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2016).
Rather than repeated votes to repeal Obamacare, our Congress could more effectively make adjustments as needed to the present plan.
