In light of Congressional attempts to repeal the national health care reform law, on January 10, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released a report projecting the impact of repealing health reform.  The report found that, without the law, 57 million Americans could be denied health coverage because of preexisting conditions.  In addition, the authors estimate that two million young adults would lose access to coverage created by the law’s dependent coverage extension.  The brief also posits that premiums for individual insurance policies would be 14 to 20 percent higher in the absence of the law’s health insurance exchanges.  U.S. PIRG concludes that repealing the law would have a substantial negative impact and recommends that policymakers work to implement the law in a manner that lowers costs.

From the executive summary:

On March 23, 2010, after a long congressional debate, President Barack Obama signed into law comprehensive federal health care reform legislation, known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA. But the enactment of the law did not end the debate. Even the law’s strongest proponents acknowledge the need for improvements. And across the country, state legislators and Governors have been urged to slow or stop work on implementation of key provisions. The courts are considering legal challenges to the law. Members of Congress will consider attempts to repeal both the law as a whole and its key provisions. This report examines the costs and benefits of repeal for the nation’s consumers, and businesses.

Full Report: The Cost of Repeal: Examining the Impact on Consumers and Businesses of Repealing the New Federal Health Care Law (PDF | 809 KB)

U.S. PIRG. (2011). The cost of repeal: examining the impact on consumers and businesses of repealing the new frederal health care law.