So what’s going on? The deficit for fiscal year 2014, which ended on September 30, came in at “just” $483 billion and 2.8 percent of GDP, the lowest figures in years. President Obama was quick to say it was because of his signature health-care reform plan. “Healthcare has long been the single biggest driver of America’s future deficits,” reports The Hill. “Healthcare is now the single biggest factor driving those deficits down.”
At the same time, the CBO (and everyone else) expects deficits to start growing again in fiscal 2016, so it’s a bit premature to break out the bubbly just yet. Senate Republicans have just released a report based on CBO data claiming that Obamacare will end up adding $300 billion to federal deficits between 2015 and 2024.
The Republican report is ultimately a political document, so its methods and conclusions deserve to be taken with more than a few grains of salt. But if past experience with massive government-run health care programs is any indicator, the odds are high that Obamacare will end up costing way more than it was supposed to.
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