A study by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid's chief actuary, Paul Spitalnic, warned that President Donald Trump's plan to expand access to short-term health insurance policies with less comprehensive benefits could add billions of dollars to the federal government budget, The New York Times reported.
The independent study found that up to 1.4 million people could register for short-term policies, which lack some standard health benefits such as preventive services, in the first year, with enrollment possibly hitting 1.9 million by 2022.
Spitalnic estimated that the plan could add $1.2 billion to the federal budget in 2019 and a total of $38.7 billion over a decade.
The administration estimated in February that a few hundred thousand people might register and anticipated additional spending of between $96 million and $168 million annually.
The Trump administration is planning to lift the duration of short-term policies to 364 days from no more than three months currently.
Spitalnic asserted that this rule change would appeal mainly to healthy people, which could lead to higher premiums for those remaining in Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
