This year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the country’s economic outlook over the next ten years will be massively affected by spending increases in healthcare.
Besides Social Security and other mandated spending programs, CBO numbers show health-care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to health insurance companies will cost the American economy $25 over the next decade.
The breakdown cost from the CBO follows:
- 2023 federal health-care spending was $1.733 trillion.
- Medicare — $1.009 trillion
- Medicaid — $616 billion
- ACA insurer subsidies — $91 billion
- Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — $18 billion
- CBO points out these costs don’t include healthcare spending on the military, veterans, and federal employees and retirees.
While ACA (also known as Obamacare) costs have continued to rise, the CBO says Medicaid spending is much higher than what CBO projected the last decade.
The projection outlook for the next 10 years expects the federal government to spend over $3.2 trillion yearly on health-care programs.
Medicare — $2.161 trillion
Medicaid — $898 billion
ACA insurer subsidies — $129 billion
CHIP — $15 billion
Medicaid costs have also skyrocketed due to the federal government subsidizing states that have enrolled in the Medicaid Expansion portion of Obamacare.
Some groups are pushing for Florida to adopt Medicaid expansion through a constitutional amendment that may be on the Florida ballot in 2026.
Analysts say Congress must step up and cut some of the spending from the federal budget on healthcare programs. A move to Medicare vouchers could help but no signs of Congress going down that path.
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