Congressional budget analysts say a Republican plan to change the threshold in the Obama health law for employer health coverage would raise the deficit by over $7 billion a year, cost a million people health insurance coverage and increase the number of uninsured Americans by up to 500,000.
"This estimate reveals just how dangerous the Affordable Care Act repeal agenda is to the American people," said Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI), as Democrats trumpeted a rare piece of good political news for their party from the Congressional Budget Office.
In evaluating the plan from Republicans in the House, the CBO said the switch from a 30 hour threshold for insurance coverage to 40 hours per week would "reduce the amount of penalties collected from employers."
In all, the CBO estimated the GOP plan would actually increase the federal budget deficit by $73.7 billion over ten years.
The CBO also found this GOP bill would:
+ Reduce - by about one million - the number of people who are receiving health insurance from their employer
+ Push between 500,000 and 1 million people into getting health coverage through the health insurance exchanges, or from Medicaid and children's health insurance programs
+ Increase the number of Americans without health insurance "by less than 500,000 people."
The GOP bill, known as the "Save American Workers Act of 2013," would change the 30 hour per week threshold in the Obama health law that is used to define a "full-time employee" for the purpose of determining possible penalties for employers not offering health insurance to their workers. The 30 hour rule would be increased to 40 hours.
Republicans charge the 30 hour threshold is pushing employers to cut hours for their workers, to make sure those employees don't have to be offered health insurance.
GOP lawmakers say the evidence shows many Americans are being shifted to part-time work, but a recent CBO review on the economic impact of the Obama health law did not agree with that assessment.
You can read this latest CBO report on the 30 hour rule here.
The CBO report was released just before the Obama Administration announced that enrollment numbers in the health exchanges has hit 4 million; the feds though still have not made available any data showing how many uninsured Americans have now obtained health coverage because of the Obama health law changes.
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