The Hill: CBO: Defunding health reform boosts deficit
A Republican plan to withhold implementation funds for the Democrats’ new healthcare law would add $5.7 billion to the deficit over 10 years, the nonpartisan congressional scorekeeper said Thursday.
In a long-term spending bill approved last month, House Republicans voted to block the federal government from using funds to implement the sweeping reform law, enacted almost a year ago. The defunding vote has become a point of contention as Republicans and Democrats try to hammer out a long-term spending measure to keep the government running past March 18.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Thursday that choking off implementation funds would cut the deficit by $1.6 billion for the rest of the year, but it would increase spending by $3.1 billion in 2012 and by smaller amounts each year through 2021.
