CBO: Bipartisan health plan lowers deficit

Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A bipartisan plan to stabilize the healthcare marketplace under the Affordable Care Act would lower the federal deficit by $3.8 billion and "would not substantially" change the number of people with health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

The independent assessment of the plan put forth by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., also says health insurance premiums wouldn't change much for 2018.

The plan extends subsidies to health insurance companies for giving discounts to lower-income customers. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending the subsidies.

The CBO said the $3.8 billion in savings over a decade would partly come from allowing states to offer lower-cost, catastrophic health insurance plans to younger, healthier customers. Attracting these younger customers would likely lower premiums across the board, saving the government more than $1 billion in subsidies.

Trump initially gave his tentative support to the bipartisan deal, but said it was only a short-term solution for one or two years. A day later, he withdrew his support, saying the federal subsidies amounted to a bailout for insurance companies.

"We'll see ... But I won't do anything to enrich the insurance companies because right now the insurance companies are being enriched. They've been enriched by Obamacare like nothing anybody has ever seen before," he said.