The Congressional Budget Office and staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation project enrollment under the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges will reach about 12 million people in 2016, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Here are five things to know about this and other CBO projections.
1. The projection, the latest from congressional budget analysts, was down from an estimate of 13 million in January and 21 million a year ago.
2. This latest projection comes after President Barack Obama's administration earlier this year lowered its enrollment projections, according to the report. Federal officials aimed to hit a target of 10 million people signed up with paid coverage by the end of 2016.
3. The CBO projects about 27 million people under age 65 will be uninsured in 2016 and that number will climb to 28 million in 2026, according to the report. The report notes about 35 percent of the uninsured population in 2026 will be unauthorized immigrants who are not eligible for subsidies on the exchanges or most Medicaid benefits.
4. Additionally, the CBO estimates the ACA's coverage provisions will cost 28 percent less in 2019 than the CBO had projected in March 2010.
5. Still, the CBO projects insurance coverage provisions of the ACA will result in a net cost to the federal government of $110 billion in 2016, according to the report. The net cost of the ACA's insurance coverage provisions from 2016 through 2025 is now estimated to be $136 billion higher than projections from March 2015.
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