SAY WHAT?

Budget Office Can’t Calculate Obamacare

Fiscal impact now uncertain.

You had one job, Congressional Budget Office. The government’s accountant said in a new report that it’s no longer possible to assess the overall fiscal effect of the Affordable Care Act because it’s not being implemented as it was written. When the law was enacted four years ago, a CBO estimate that it would reduce the deficit by $120 billion over the decade helped persuade Democrats to pass it. “The ACA’s financing provisions were assumed to be effective so as to get a favorable score out of CBO upon enactment, but no one is keeping track of whether they’re being enforced,” said Charles Blahous, a public trustee for Social Security and Medicare. The CBO maintains the law will reduce budget deficits based on a 2012 analysis. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported coverage for 2 million is in jeopardy thanks to “data discrepancies.”