Eliminating Obamacare’s individual mandate to get health insurance would save the federal government $305 billion over the next decade but leave 14 million more people uninsured, according to new projections.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday released its projections on eliminating the mandate, which says each citizen has to get health insurance unless he or she meets certain exemptions. The mandate has been a flashpoint of criticism for the law and was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012.
The agency said eliminating the mandate, which went into effect in 2014, would reduce the deficit by $311 billion from 2015 to 2025. But it also would reduce revenue by $6 billion in penalties.
At the same time, however, the number of uninsured people would rise. The agency estimates that eliminating the insurance requirement would increase the number of uninsured in 2025 by about 14 million compared with current projections.
That would result in 41 million uninsured in that year, the agency said.
“Similar changes in coverage would occur in most other years,” the budget office added.
Premiums for plans in the individual market also would rise by 20 percent between 2017 and 2025, the Congressional Budget Office said. The individual market represents the Obamacare marketplaces, as they were created for people who do not get their insurance through their jobs.
The individual mandate went into effect in 2014. Last year people who didn’t have health insurance had to pay a fine of either $95 or 1 percent of annual household income, whichever was higher. The penalty for not getting coverage this year increases to $325 or 2 percent of income.
There are exemptions available for low-income people.
