The Federal Government Will Spend $685 Billion Subsidizing Health Care in 2018

by Julie Cohen

The federal government will spend $685 billion subsidizing health care for people under 65 in 2018, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Wednesday.

The funds are expected to equal 3.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, creeping up to 3.9 percent by 2028. The majority of this money will go towards Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan, which covers about a quarter of Americans under the age of 65.

Over the next ten years, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion is set to cost the federal government an additional $842 billion in addition to what they would have had to pay for without the Obama-era health care reform, according to the report.

About 29 million people will remain uninsured in an average month in 2018. This number is projected to rise to 35 million for an average month in 2028, mainly as a result of the elimination of insurance penalties under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. However, about 20 percent of these uninsured will be illegal immigrants.

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