Estimated Cost of 'Obamacare' Is Now $2.6 Trillion -- Nearly $1.7 Trillion More Than Obama Promised

According to the latest estimates, President Obama's health care law, also known as "Obamacare," will cost around $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, nearly $1.7 trillion more than Obama's initial promise of $900 billion.

The Senate Budget Committee -- the Republican side -- released the following chart today depicting the rising costs of Obamacare. Notice that the cost estimates have increased with each and every estimate:

They also provided this explanation:

"President Obama promised a joint session of Congress in 2009 to spend $900 billion over ten years on his health care law: 'Now, add it all up, and the plan that I’m proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years.' Adding up all the different spending provisions in the health care law, however, (including closing the Medicare 'donut hole,' implementation costs, and other spending) total gross spending over the FY 2010–19 period is about $1.4 trillion, based on CBO estimates," the Senate Budget Committee Republican staff explains.

"And most of the major spending provisions in the law do not even take effect until 2014. Congressional Democrats delayed these provisions in order to show only six years of spending under the plan in the original 10-year budget window (from FY2010-19) used by CBO at the time the law was enacted. Therefore, the original estimate concealed the fact that most of the law’s spending only doesn’t even begin until four years into the 10-year window. A Senate Budget Committee analysis (based on CBO estimates and growth rates) finds that that total spending under the law will amount to at least $2.6 trillion over a true 10-year period (from FY2014–23)—not $900 billion, as President Obama originally promised."

According to The Weekly Standard, the chart was published today to coincide with the House vote to repeal Obamacare. House Republicans with the help of five Democrats voted in favor of repeal the law 244-185.

As the chart explains, "Estimates of the gross outlays under the President's health care law in nominal dollars using CBO estimates of major coverage provisions, as well as Senate Budget Committee Republican projections based on CBO estimates of the remaining costs."

(H/T: Drudge)