[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 10, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE COSTS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, all over the country today in newspapers and 
electronic media there is a story. I will just pick one of them out 
from the front page of the Washington Post today. The headline reads: 
``CBO: Health law will cost less than expected.'' It says: ``President 
Obama's health-care law will cost taxpayers substantially less than 
previously estimated, congressional budget officials said Monday, in an 
upbeat note for a program that has faced withering criticism since its 
passage five years ago.''
  I would just note here that the opposition has come from my 
Republican colleagues in the Senate and the House. They voted 67 times 
to repeal it in the House. Of course, each time it has failed.
  Continuing on in this article, it says:

       The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office attributed the 
     savings to spending on medical care in coming years that will 
     not be as great as previously forecast. As a result, the 
     agency said, insurers are not expected to charge Americans as 
     much for coverage, and the government will save on subsidies 
     for low- and moderate-income people.
       What's more, the CBO has concluded that companies are not 
     canceling health insurance policies as often as had been 
     anticipated earlier this year. Fewer Americans consequently 
     are planning to sign up for insurance under the Affordable 
     Care Act, generating more taxpayer savings.
       In total, the health-care law will cost taxpayers . . . 11 
     percent less over the next decade than estimated in January. 
     The cost of providing subsidies for people to buy insurance 
     on the state and federal marketplaces--the centerpiece of the 
     law--will be 20 percent lower than projected.

  The article goes on and on about the good things that are happening 
with health care in America.

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