The head of the Congressional Budget Office has told one of the agency's critics in the House that predicting how the lawmaker's Affordable Care Act (ACA) change proposals would work is hard.
Keith Hall, director of the Congressional Budget Office, gave the CBO's side today in a public letter addressed to Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J.
"I can report that all of the people at CBO are tasked with maintaining a culture of objectivity, impartiality and nonpartisanship," Hall writes in the letter.
The CBO is an arm of Congress that helps members of Congress analyze how proposed legislation might work, and how existing laws, regulations and programs are working.
Waiver Proposals
MacArthur, who was the head of a risk management and benefit plan administration firm in New Jersey, has tried to reconcile differences between Republicans in Congress who want to minimize government involvement in health insurance and those who are open to more involvement by developing state ACA rule waiver proposals.
MacArthur has suggested letting a state decide whether it wants to keep the ACA major medical benefits package requirements, and whether it wants to keep the current ACA restrictions on medical underwriting in place.
MacArthur has blasted CBO reports showing that his proposal and other Republican ACA change proposals would drive up health coverage costs and increase the number of uninsured people.
He met with Hall on July 12 to talk about his concerns about the CBO, according to Hall.
ACA Waiver Scoring