The CBO was asked to figure out how much it would cost if all fifty states received that same benefit. The answer was $35 billion over 10 years according to news reports.
But if you read the CBO report, it doesn't say that. Yes, it is $35 billion between 2010 and 2019, but no costs are incurred until 2017.
So it is actually $35.3 billion over three years - $10.7 billion in 2017, $11.7 billion in 2018 and $13.0 billion in 2019 (maybe you noticed how that number goes up each year.)
You can download the two page letter from the CBO at http://bit.ly/87jo7x to check for yourself.
So, let's just do a little estimate of our own here. If the cost of this goes up say, $1 billion each year, then by the time of year number ten, this would cost $20 billion per year.
That means, the real total of this over ten years from 2017-2026 would be $155 billion for all fifty states to receive such a special Medicaid deal as the one cut by Sen. Nelson of Nebraska.
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