Delaying individual mandate would save $35 billion over 10 years

According to a report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), delaying the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate by one year would cut the federal deficit by $35 billion over the next 10 years.

The report found that a delay would cut Medicaid spending by $17 billion over the next decade while also cutting about $9 billion from the cost of federal subsidies to help low- and moderate-income U.S. residents purchase coverage. In addition, the delay would increase federal revenues by about $7.4 billion.

However, the CBO found that a delay would increase in the number of uninsured from about 44 million to 55 million because:

• Five million fewer people would enroll in Medicaid or CHIP;
• Four million fewer people would have access to employer-based health coverage; and
• Two million fewer people would receive coverage through the state insurance exchanges.