WASHINGTON BUREAU — Repealing the Affordable Care Act could make the cost of large-group health coverage slightly higher and make the cost of individual coverage somewhat lower, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The effects of repeal on the small group market are less certain but could make small group premiums slightly higher or slightly lower, CBO analysts estimate.
CBO analysts prepared the projections for House Speaker John Boener, R-Ohio, in response to the introduction of H.R. 2, the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act bill. The bill would repeal both components of the Affordable Care Act package — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.
The net impact of many different repeal-related changes would cause the small 
changes in group coverage costs, CBO analysts report.
In the individual market, the full price of premiums would be lower "mostly because the average insurance policy in this market would cover a smaller share of enrollees' costs for health care and a slightly narrower range of benefits," CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf says in a letter summarizing the analysts' findings on the budget impact of H.R. 2.
Even though individual premiums would be lower, the typical consumer in the individual market would pay more for coverage, Elmendorf says.
