What deal are you making?
Reported by the Washington Examiner:
A Democratic health care proposal in the Senate would trim the deficit and cost less than $900 billion, but it would result in as many as 8 million people being pushed out of private insurance.
The new price tag, produced by the independent Congressional Budget Office, is good news for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., author of the bill and head of the Senate Finance Committee. Baucus put off a committee vote on his plan at the behest of lawmakers who wanted to make sure the legislation was “deficit-neutral” before deciding whether to vote for it. (PIN Comment: When the Public Option makes its way into the bill, you can throw the term “deficit neutral” out the window, unless taxes are raise again to make American citizens pay for it.)
The Baucus plan, which would require all Americans who could afford it to carry insurance or pay a fine, would cut the number of uninsured by 29 million over 10 years, but leave 25 million without insurance, including more than 8 million illegal immigrants. (PIN Comment: Isn’t there around 15 to 16 million immigrants in the U.S. now? Does this mean that 7 to 8 million illegal immigrants will get the coverage? I thought President Obama said it would not cover illegal immigrants? Curious isn’t it?)
The report found the number of people buying coverage outside newly created health insurance exchanges or getting coverage through employers “would decline by several million.” About 3 million would be cut from employer-provided coverage and an additional 5 million would lose other private insurance.
The Baucus bill would put 14 million more Americans on Medicaid, the program for poor Americans, by 2019 through coverage expanded to include people earning up to 133 percent of the poverty level. (PIN Comment: Medicaid is one of the government run programs that continue to pump out an enormous fraud, waste and abuse. Prescriptions and benefits continue to be paid to the deceased and illegal immigrants.)
It also concluded that the creation of the much-touted health insurance co-operatives that are at the heart of the Baucus bill “seem unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas of the country or to noticeably affect federal subsidy payments,” according to a letter to Baucus by CBO Director Doug Elmendorf.
The estimate provided by the CBO has grown since an initial estimate in September, when the agency estimated the bill would cost $774 billion. (PIN Comment: Overall cost continues to rise while reducing the deficit by way of increased taxes and cuts to Medicare.)
Baucus said the report showed his bill was “a smart investment on our federal balance sheet. It’s an even smarter investment for American families, businesses and our economy.”
Elmendorf warned that the figures could change once the bill was translated into legislative language. (PIN Translation: We will put what we want into the bill when it goes behind closed doors. We just want something to pass to get us started.)
The report also shows Medicare would take a substantial financial hit, with permanent reductions in payment rates for services (excluding physicians’ services) totaling $279 billion over 10 years. The bill would also cut Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals by $45 billion. The CBO projects that a yet-to-be-created Medicare Commission will cut subsidies for the extra benefits provided under the Medicare Advantage program and reduce the subsidies for the Medicare prescription drug program in an effort to save $22 billion.
Republicans downplayed the report, warning that Democrats could add to the cost when they held closed-door negotiations on a final bill. (See PIN Translation above)
“The real bill will be another 1,000-page, trillion-dollar experiment that slashes a half-trillion dollars from seniors’ Medicare, raises taxes on American families by $400 billion, increases health care premiums and vastly expands the role of the federal government in the personal health care decisions of every American,” warned Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (PIN Comment: Think $700 billion TARP package, $410 billion Omnibus package, $787 billion Stimulus package, and the $1.4 trillion 2009 deficit.)
Related articles:
Click here to read the actual CBO estimate.
GOP Pans Senate Health Bill After Cost Analysis
Eight Thoughts on CBO
There Is No Baucus Bill
The Government Health Care Takeover Tab
Sen. McConnell Statement on CBO Report
Tax The Sick: Obama’s New Plan
The Democrats believe this country has a moral obligation to provide insurance to every American. Where is their moral obligation to firing politician’s who are unethical within their party? Where is their moral obligation to fulfill their commitments to the American people (i.e. transparency, no more taxes & etc)? Where is the moral obligation to create jobs by reducing taxes? Where is their moral obligation to actually do their job by working like every other American? I’m tired of their whining because they actually have to read a bill. Obama probably has never actually worked a day in his life. He has Communist China making decisions for him so nothing should change anytime in the near future.