Romney's $305 Billion Lie

As the primary season heats up, we have heard some outrageous things from the Republican candidates. One of their favorite targets for shockingly false and misleading statements is the health care law.

So it was no surprise when Mitt Romney made one of those not-so-true claims during a New Hampshire primary debate on January 8. Romney once again pledged he would repeal the health care law, and he claimed that doing so would generate $95 billion in savings per year. Hmmm...that doesn't sound quite right.

According to Politifact, Romney has his numbers all wrong. To back up his claim, Romney referenced a Congressional Budget Office analysis of a bill that House Republicans proposed in January 2011 to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act. The analysis projected $95 billion less in outlays, or expenditures, in 2016 (not every year as claimed by Romney) if the law were repealed. And Mitt and his staff should have read the rest of the report. It says that repeal of the Affordable Care Act would actually add $210 billion to the deficit between 2012 and 2021. So actually, the deficit would be lower if the health care law remains intact.

What Romney and many others who oppose the Affordable Care Act overlook when making these claims is that the law is full of moving parts. It may keep in place parts that cost money, but it also reduces spending in other places and generates revenue. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would not only harm millions of Americans by taking away their access to affordable, quality health care, but it would also hurt an already struggling economy.