October 13, 2010 9:53AM 

# Cato Study: ObamaCare’s Hidden $550 Billion Cost 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

In a [study](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12197) released today by the Cato Institute, Duke University professor Chris Conover estimates how much [ObamaCare](https://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/BadMedicineWP.pdf) and related provisions will reduce economic output:

> The Congressional Budget Office has projected the 10-year, on-budget cost of [The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. ObamaCare] will be just over $1 trillion. This paper estimates PPACA will impose an additional, hidden cost of $157 billion to $494 billion in the form of reduced economic output. Related provisions (such as the so-called “doc fix”) could drive the economic losses to $550 billion, or more than half of the bill’s official cost estimates.

Conover will present his paper at a Cato policy forum at 10 a.m. today. Click [here](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7553) to watch online.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).