Cost-control measures included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will curb healthcare spending over the next 25 years in the U.S., according to a new report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Some of these provisions include permanent reductions in annual updates to Medicare's payment rates for many types of healthcare providers -- other than physicians -- in the fee-for-service program, CBO said.
The agency's "2014 Long-Term Budget Outlook" states that federal spending on healthcare programs such as Children's Health Insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare, as well as subsidies that support insurance coverage through the ACA's exchanges, will make up 8% of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2039, a 1% decrease from CBO's 2013 projection. This translates into $250 billion in savings, according to the report.
The report's projections include the reduction in Medicare's payments to physicians scheduled for 2015 and the reductions in Medicare spending specified in the Budget Control Act of 2011, as amended, for 2015 through 2024, CBO wrote.
