The Congressional Budget Office released its estimates of the impact of proposed health care reform on insurance. This is a preliminary estimate - the CBO states that it needs more time to project impact of some of the proposed changes. The "headline" seems to be high cost with only a small drop in the uninsured. But this is almost a 1/3 drop -- it would matter a lot to those 17 million who benefited from health insurance. Another possible important issue is "what would happen if there were no reform?" If the employer market shrinks, the actual number of uninsured could increase much more than the CBO estimates (from 50 to 54 million over 10 years). The Obama administration also seeks to address insurance adequacy -- which might change the percentage of people who are 'effectively' covered.
