CBO: Employer mandate to cost feds $12 billion

The Obama administration's decision to delay the employer mandate in the ACA by one year will cost the government about $12 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office (Source: “CBO: ObamaCare mandate delay will cost government $12 billion,” The Hill, July 30, 2013).

According to the CBO report, most of the cost increase — $10 billion — comes from lost revenue. The government will not collect penalties until 2015 from employers that do not provide health insurance. The delay also will add $3 billion to the cost of tax credits for people who buy insurance through newly created insurance exchanges, the CBO said.

Roughly 1 million fewer people will have employer-based health insurance because of the delay, according to the CBO's analysis.