Steps In The Right Direction
The Senate Health Care Bill Represents A Serious Effort To Cut Costs While Expanding Coverage
by Ronald Brownstein
National Journal
It's easy to understand why so many Americans are uneasy about the cost of health care reform. But the debate over reform's fiscal impact needs to consider both sides of the ledger -- not just its costs but also its potential for savings.
With the federal deficit already ballooning, the legislation the Senate is now debating would commit Washington to spending almost $200 billion annually by 2019 to guarantee nearly universal coverage. That's real money.
But many health reform experts agree that the bill formulated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also makes real efforts to offset those federal costs and to "bend the curve" on overall medical spending. In a Nov. 17 letter to President Obama, 23 prominent economists identified four principles of fiscally-responsible health care reform. Reid's bill, inevitably, contains compromises and concessions that deviate from the economists' blueprint. But building on the cost-control proposals devised earlier by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., the legislation substantially meets each of the letter's four tests
(More here.)
by Ronald Brownstein
National Journal
It's easy to understand why so many Americans are uneasy about the cost of health care reform. But the debate over reform's fiscal impact needs to consider both sides of the ledger -- not just its costs but also its potential for savings.
With the federal deficit already ballooning, the legislation the Senate is now debating would commit Washington to spending almost $200 billion annually by 2019 to guarantee nearly universal coverage. That's real money.
But many health reform experts agree that the bill formulated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also makes real efforts to offset those federal costs and to "bend the curve" on overall medical spending. In a Nov. 17 letter to President Obama, 23 prominent economists identified four principles of fiscally-responsible health care reform. Reid's bill, inevitably, contains compromises and concessions that deviate from the economists' blueprint. But building on the cost-control proposals devised earlier by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., the legislation substantially meets each of the letter's four tests
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
why isn't this bill good enough for Congress and their families? Why isn't this plan good enough to test on federal employees first to see how it will work before we roll it out to everyone? see, here is another piece that is just a flat out lie. Sure, the first 10 years of ObamaCare might save money, but what about the out years after 2019 when the costs are expected to exceed $2, perhaps, $3 trillion? ObamaCare starts collecting taxes immediately but does not begin paying out until the 2014. So, of course, the first 10 years saves money and is revenue neutral, but that's the scam they are trying to pull to make it look like everything is a-ok. Good God, to say that after 2019 the bills busts the budget is putting it mildly. We'll never be able to tax, borrow or inflate (i.e. print money) to be able to come close to meeting the obligations this bill will promise after 2019. Of course, everyone who is in office today most likely will not be in office come the 2020s, but hey, I am sure we can blame the impending doom on George Bush!
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