The federal health care law will still leave about 21 million Americans uninsured by 2019, will cost more than $2.7 trillion and add $352 billion to the national debt over 10 years of full implementation, says an expert at a public policy think tank.
Michael Tanner, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute, makes these claims in his book, "Bad Medicine: A Guide to the Real Costs and Consequences of the New Health Care Law." It went on sale Monday.
"It is a pretty significant failure," Tanner said of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Many of Tanner's findings come from the Congressional Budget Office, which does budgetary analysis for Congress.
Tanner's figure of $2.7 trillion includes $105 billion of costs to implement the health care act that weren't included in the bill. That includes such things as hiring new IRS agents.
Other findings:
- Most Americans and businesses will see little or no change to the increasing costs of their health insurance.
- The new law will increase taxes by $669 billion from today to 2019.
Tanner said more information is coming out on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act but is not getting to the public.
"What you are dealing with is a lot of technical reports that are dribbling out," Tanner said. "I don't think it is getting out in the public consciousness just how bad the news is."
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.