THE NEWS: Cost estimates for a key part of President Obama’s health care overhaul law have ballooned by $111 billion from last year’s budget, but administration officials say budget technicalities, not changes to the program, are to blame.
THE NUMBERS: The estimated cost of helping millions of middle-class Americans buy health insurance has jumped by about 30 percent for 2014 to 2021.
THE CONTEXT: Cost estimates for new government programs can be wide of the mark. For example the actual cost of President Bush’s Medicare prescription drug benefit came in lower than estimated, so it wasn’t as big a drag on federal finances as initially forecast.
