The Congressional Budget Office has released its analysis of President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2017 budget, and the CBO's estimates differ from the those provided by the president's own Office of Management and Budget.
Overall, the CBO estimates President Obama's healthcare reform proposals will save $123 billion less than the administration projects in its proposed FY 2017 budget.
Here are five major healthcare takeaways from the CBO's analysis.
1. From 2017 through 2026, the CBO's estimate for spending to subsidize health insurance and to stabilize premiums in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces is $350 billion lower than the administration's estimate. The difference stems from the CBO's lower enrollment and per-person cost estimates.
2. The CBO's Medicare spending estimate for 2017 through 2026 is $65 billion lower than the administration's, primarily because the administration expects more rapid growth in spending per beneficiary.
3. The budget proposes to reform payments to Medicare Advantage plans by using competition to set payment rates. The payment rates would be based on plans' bids, ensuring that payments reflect plans' costs for covering Medicare beneficiaries. The administration estimates Medicare Advantage reforms in the budget proposal would save about $77 billion from 2017 through 2026. The CBO estimates these policy changes would save about $26 billion.
4. Some of the CBO's estimates are higher than the administrations. From 2017 through 2026, the CBO's Medicaid spending estimate is $170 billion higher than the administration's. The CBO and the administration used different estimates of per-person costs and enrollment.
5. In total, the administration estimates healthcare reform proposals in the president's budget will save $378 billion through 2026, while the CBO estimates savings will be $255 billion, according to an analysis from bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
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