Over the next decade, the Affordable Care Act's insurance provisions will cost the federal government $136 billion more than expected, according to the latest report from the Congressional Budget Office.
However, those measures, including subsidized individual coverage and expanded Medicaid, are still running at a lower cost than expected in March 2010, when the law went into effect. Most of the recently identified higher costs come from the ACA's Medicaid expansion as states continue to enroll more low-income people than originally predicted.
Between 2016 and 2025, the federal government will spend $1.34 trillion on the ACA's primary health coverage provisions. That total is up from the CBO's projection last March of $1.2 trillion.
The expected costs of Medicaid expansion during the next decade will fall just short of $1 trillion, according to the CBO. That compares with $803 billion spent on premium and cost-sharing subsidies in the ACA's exchanges, the Basic Health Program and other exchange-related provisions.
The CBO also released numbers on the entire U.S. health insurance market for people younger than 65. The group said 155 million people will have employer-based coverage throughout 2016, while 68 million will have Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program plans. Approximately 22 million Americans will sign up in the individual market, and that includes about 9 million people who will enroll off the exchanges.
