Congress’s non-partisan scorekeeper didn’t find any big savingsfor the U.S. government in a Senate bill designed to stabilize Obamacare, but the reason for that isa technicality.

The bipartisan legislation, from Republican SenatorLamar Alexander and Democrat Patty Murray, would explicitly fundthe Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reduction payments through 2019,while offering more flexibility for states to set up their owninsurance markets. This month President Donald Trump halted thepayments -- which reimburse health insurers for offering reducedco-pays and deductibles to lower-income customers -- amid a disputeover their legality.

Funding the payments known as CSRs doesn’t have a cost orbenefit, according to CBO, because the they are already included inthe agency’s baseline estimates. The agency used the baseline thatassumes the CSRs are made after consulting with Budget committeesin the House and Senate, according to the report.

Without the payments, insurers are set to hike their premiumssignificantly for next year. The bill’s sponsors say that undermore realistic analysis, funding the payments would save thegovernment some $200 billion over ten years.

“If CSRs are not paid, premiums in 2018 will go up an average of20 percent, the federal debt will increase by $194 billion over tenyears, due to the extra cost of subsidies to pay the higherpremiums, and up to 16 million Americans may live in counties wherethey are not able to buy any insurance in the individual market,”Alexander and Murray said in a joint statement shortly after theCBO released its report.

The Alexander-Murray proposal would reduce the deficit by $3.8billion, CBO said. The agency also found that the measure wouldhave little effect on the number of people enrolled in Obamacare’sinsurance markets.

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.