FixHealthCarePolicy

Health Care Provisions Buried in The Unemployment Benefits Extenders Bill

Congressional liberals are working overtime. In case you missed it, hidden behind the non-stop news coverage of the health care debate, the Senate-passed extenders bill includes several health care provisions that follow the same flawed policies of the big Stimulus Bill. Once again, these provisions move the health care system in the wrong direction.

– COBRA or Nothing. The bill would give premium relief only to those unemployed workers who opt for COBRA coverage. It is well documented that COBRA coverage is one of the most expensive options available to those who lose their jobs. Workers would be better served if they were able to decide whether to use this temporary assistance on COBRA or another more affordable option, including policies available in the individual market.

– Another Medicaid Bailout. The bill would continue to use federal taxpayer funds to bailout state Medicaid programs. While state budgets are crippled by Medicaid, the solution is not to transfer the cost on the federal taxpayers. Instead, Congress should get serious about Medicaid reform and grant states the flexibility they need to fix the program. (more…)

Tags: COBRA, doc fix, economic stimulus bill, Medicaid bailout

The President’s Health Plan Won’t Cut the Budget Deficit

One of the central arguments President Barack Obama has made on behalf of the health care plan he wants Congress to approve in coming weeks is that it would begin to address the problem of rising costs and thus also begin to bring down future federal budget deficits.

But will it?

The president’s plan has not yet been assessed by the Congressional Budget Office. But CBO has provided a cost estimate for the Senate-passed bill, upon which the president’s proposal is built. That estimate shows the Senate bill would reduce the budget deficit by $132 billion through 2019. CBO also says that the Senate bill would likely reduce projected deficits even more during the second decade of implementation.

But, as Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin noted at last week’s Blair House meeting, there are a number of reasons to be skeptical about this claim.

For starters, the Senate bill omits the president’s proposal to permanently restore a 21 percent reduction in Medicare’s fees for physician services, now in effect as of March 1. The administration estimates that overriding this cut will cost $371 billion through 2020. (more…)

Tags: CBO, doc fix, federal deficit, Medicaid Expansion, Medicare cuts, ObamaCare, President's proposal

The Senate Bill’s Fiscal Madness: Rep. Ryan’s Damning Indictment

As Heritage analysts have noted time and again, spending from congressional liberals’ health care proposals would be in the trillions, growing the federal deficit. The President has proposed a modification of the Senate bill with provisions that would make it even more expensive. At last week’s Health Care Summit, hosted by the White House, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) echoed these same concerns over the true cost of the President’s proposal for health care reform. Thus far, neither the President nor the leaders of Congress- not one- have responded to Ryan’s indictment:

• Budget Gimmicks Galore: “[W]hat has been placed in front of [CBO] is a bill that is full of gimmicks and smoke-and-mirrors…first off, the bill has 10 years of tax increases, about half a trillion dollars, with 10 years of Medicare cuts, about half a trillion dollars, to pay for six years of spending…Now, what’s the true 10-year cost of this bill in 10 years? That’s $2.3 trillion.”
• Double-Counted Savings: “It takes $52 billion in higher Social Security tax revenues and counts them as offsets. But that’s really reserved for Social Security. So either we’re double-counting them or we don’t intend on paying those Social Security benefits…It takes $72 billion and claims money from the CLASS Act. That’s the long-term care insurance program. It takes the money from premiums that are designed for that benefit and instead counts them as offsets.” Later, Rep. Ryan went on to point out, “You can’t say that you’re using this money to either extend Medicare solvency and also offset the cost of this new program. That’s double counting.” (more…)

Tags: CLASS Act, doc fix, Health Care Summit, Medicare cuts, President's proposal, Rep. Paul Ryan, Social Security tax

Video: Paul Ryan Destroys Obamacare’s Deficit Reduction Claims

Yesterday at the Blair House health summit, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) directly challenged the White House’s deficit reduction claims. From the transcript:

“Look, we agree on the problem here, and the problem is health inflation is driving us off of a fiscal cliff. Mr. President, you said health care reform is budget reform. You’re right. We agree with that. Medicare right now has a $38 trillion unfunded liability. That’s $38 trillion in empty promises to my parents’ generation, our generation, our kids’ generation. Medicaid is growing at 21 percent this year. It’s suffocating state’s budgets. It’s adding trillions in obligations that we have no means to pay for it.”

“Now, you’re right to frame the debate on cost and health inflation. And in September when you spoke to us in the well of the House, you basically said — and I totally agree with this — ‘I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future.’” (more…)

Tags: budget reform, CLASS Act, deficits, doc fix, Medicare, ObamaCare, Ponzi scheme, Rep. Paul Ryan

The President’s Health Proposal: Further Jacking Up the Cost of Care

In anticipation of the February 25^th health care summit with members of Congress, the President released his proposal for pricey, government-run health care. The White House estimates the cost of the proposal to be $950 billion over a decade, decreasing the federal deficit. However, health policy expert James Capretta, a former senior official of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), shows in a recent paper that this is not only inaccurate, but far from reality.

Capretta’s research shows that ten full years of implementation of the President’s proposal would cost closer to $2.5 trillion, with the strong likelihood of far exceeding this amount. Here’s how:

• The President’s proposal ignores “doc fix” legislation, which would cost roughly $200 billion over ten years. As Capretta notes, it is ironic that the President does not account for this provision, but includes several other Medicare provisions in his proposal.

• Non-coverage spending would add about $90 billion to the cost of the bill.

• Cost estimates for the President’s plan should apply to the ten year window from 2011 to 2020—not to 2019. This would add approximately $200 billion more to the cost of the bill. (more…)

Tags: CLASS Act, doc fix, health care costs, ObamaCare, OMB, President's proposal, taxes

Cost of Health Care Bill Soars, Despite President’s Pledge

While House and Senate leaders negotiate over the final version of a health care bill, they seem to have forgotten one thing: many of them, including the President, pledged to deny support to any bill which would add to the federal deficit. Until now, budgetary gimmicks have hidden the true cost of the health care bills, but neither chamber of Congress has succeeded at creating a bill which is deficit neutral and falls under $900 billion—the limit set by President Obama himself . In a recent paper, Heritage expert James Capretta lays bare the truth about the cost of Democrats’ health care bills:

• The “Doc Fix.” Every year, Congress must vote to postpone cuts to Medicare physicians’ fees. Suspending these cuts adds to the federal deficit. Both the House and Senate bills were scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) as though these cuts to physicians’ fees will occur, which, on paper, makes the cost of reform cheaper by hundreds of billions of dollars. Acknowledging that these cuts will not take place reveal that both health care bills add about $80 billion to the deficit over ten years. (more…)

Tags: doc fix, federal deficit, Medicare savings, non-coverage spending, ObamaCare

An Entitlement Certain to Grow

One of the main arguments President Barack Obama and other Democrats have made on behalf of the health care bills that have passed the House and the Senate is that they would reduce the federal budget deficit in the coming decade and in the years following as well. Their claim is backed up by the official cost estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office that show modest improvements in the budget outlook through 2019 if the bills become law. But there are important reasons to be very skeptical that a final health care bill will improve the nation’s budget outlook, both in the short and the long term.

For starters, neither bill addresses the impending cut in the fees paid to physicians under the Medicare program. There is bipartisan opposition to these cuts, but the cost of fixing the problem would exceed $200 billion over 10 years. Consequently, congressional Democrats aren’t providing a permanent solution in the health care bills; they are in effect understating the cost of the reform program they have promised to deliver. If the so-called “doc fix” were included in the accounting, the health care reform effort would no longer be a deficit reducer at all. (more…)

Tags: CBO, doc fix, entitlement, Medicaid Expansion, ObamaCare

Why is the AMA Supporting a 20% Pay Cut for Their Members?

Yesterday the American Medical Association announced their support for the Senate version of Obamacare. Which is interesting since both the House and Senate versions of Obamacare cut doctor Medicare reimbursement rates by 20% starting in 2011. If Obamacare were to reinstate these cuts, the plan would add $196 billion to the deficit in the first 10 years and $765 billion in the second decade.

But President Barack Obama promised the American people yesterday: “I just want to be clear, for all those who are continually carping about how this is somehow a big-spending government bill, this cuts our deficit by $132 billion the first 10 years and by over $1 trillion in the second. The argument that opponents are making against this bill does not hold water.”

So either the AMA is misinformed about whether or not Congress and President Obama will save their Medicare reimbursement rates, or President Obama is misinformed when he tells the American people his health care plan will cut the deficit. Both the AMA and the President owe the American people an explanation.

Tags: American Medical Association, doc fix, Medicare reimbursement cuts

Left Now Admitting Obamacare Full of Budget Gimmicks

President Barack Obama again asserted today that his health care plan would be deficit neutral chiding: “The argument that opponents are making against this bill does not hold water.”

But while the President’s most ardent supporters are trying to explain to each other why the benefits of the bill do not start until 2014, they are openly admitting that Obama’s deficit busting claims are complete fiction:

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein: “The delay is a budget trick, an attempt to lower the 10-year cost of the bill at the expense of the very people we’re trying to help.”

Mother Jones‘ Kevin Drum: “I’m pretty sure the 2014 date is mostly due to budget finagling. This stuff can’t be done overnight, but I’ll bet most of it could be implemented within 12 months, and it could certainly be implemented within 24.”

Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall: “My impression is that some of the delays are there because it makes the budgetary accounting work better in terms of deficit neutrality. And I know the Dems would likely lose critical support without being able to show that the overall bill actually lowers the deficit. But if that’s the main reason, I suspect the legislative authors may be too clever by half since they may be slitting the bill’s and perhaps their own throats in the process.”

(more…)

Tags: CLASS Act, doc fix, Medicare cuts, trillion dollar deficits

The Senate Health Bill: True Cost is $4.9 Trillion

As we mentioned this morning, nobody believes that Congress will follow through on the health care spending cuts used to help pay for the Reid Health Bill. At NRO, Ethics and Public Policy Center fellow James Capretta combs through the CBO report and delivers a true price tag for the Reid Bill:

So, here’s the bottom line. On paper, the Reid plan plus the “doc fix” would increase total federal spending by about $4.9 trillion over 20 years. Senate Democrats would resort to bracket creep and other tax hikes to raise $2.2 trillion over the same period. The balance would be made up with spending reductions, mainly in Medicare, that no one believes can be sustained, and in any event do not constitute “health reform.” In other words, it’s a tax-and-spend bill of the highest order. And only the spending is certain to happen.

Tags: doc fix, Harry Reid, Medicare, Obama Health Care Plan, trillion dollar deficits