The Affordable Care Act Is Producing More Coverage for Much Less Money

The Affordable Care Act's premiums are lower than expected; they will save $190 billion.

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Idea of the Day

The Affordable Care Act is already working: Intense price competition among health plans in the marketplaces for individuals has lowered premiums below projected levels. As a result of these lower premiums, the federal government will save about $190 billion over the next 10 years, according to our estimates. These savings will boost the health law’s amount of deficit reduction by 174 percent and represent about 40 percent of the health care savings proposed by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform—commonly known as the Simpson-Bowles commission—in 2010.

Moreover, we estimate that lower premiums will lower the number of uninsured even further, by an additional 700,000 people, even as the number of individuals who receive tax credits will decline because insurance is more affordable.

In short, the Affordable Care Act is working even better than expected, producing more coverage for much less money.

For more on this topic, please see:

The Affordable Care Act’s Lower-Than-Projected Premiums Will Save $190 Billion by Topher Spiro and Jonathan Gruber

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