A bipartisan measure changing ObamaCare’s definition of full-time work would raise the deficit by $53.2 billion over 10 years and move up to 1 million people into government sponsored health insurance, congressional budget analysts said Wednesday.
{mosads}The projection from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) poses a messaging challenge to Republican supporters of the measure who are using it as their first attack on the healthcare law this Congress.
Democrats immediately pounced on the news to denounce the bill.
“Republican leaders have said they want to work with Democrats on policies that would help workers and the economy, so it’s extremely disappointing that they appear to be doing the exact opposite right out of the gate,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a member of Democratic leadership.
The legislation would raise ObamaCare’s definition of full-time work from 30 to 40 hours a week for the purposes of applying the law’s employer mandate. In practice, according to the CBO, it would lower the number of companies liable for penalties, reducing government revenues.
The measure from Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.) would also reduce the number of people receiving employer-based health insurance by 1 million, with between 500,000 and 1 million expected to join Medicaid, CHIP or the healthcare law’s exchanges.
The number of uninsured would also increase by less than 500,000, the CBO said.
The legislation is scheduled to receive a vote in the House on Thursday.