WASHINGTON (AP) - The Congressional Budget Office says premiums for a popular type of individual health plan would rise sharply if President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to stop "Obamacare" payments to insurers.
The nonpartisan number crunchers also estimate that cutting off the money would leave more people with no insurance options.
And they say it would add $194 billion to federal deficits over a decade, because other subsidies would automatically go up, more than wiping out any savings
At issue are the Affordable Care Act's "cost-sharing" payments, totaling about $7 billion this year, which reimburse insurers for subsidizing out-of-pocket costs for people with modest incomes.
It's a financial break that can cut a deductible of $3,500 down to a few hundred dollars.