Health Care Bill Will CUT Deficit says Non Partisan CBO

Clearing the decks for a likely Sunday vote, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that the health care reform compromise bill will cut the deficit by $138 billion over the next 10 years and by another $1.2 trillion over the following 10 years; will give 32 million more Americans access to coverage, close the Medicare donut hole, and extend Medicare’s solvency by at least nine years.

The CBO estimates should serve to assure Blue Dog Democrats concerned about increasing budget deficits, although no Republicans are expected to support the legislation.

The White House announced that President Obama is delaying his scheduled trip to Indonesia and Australia to remain in Washington for the expected Sunday vote in the House and possible amendment votes in the Senate during the coming week.

Earlier this week, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced that he will cast his vote in favor of the legislation, a reversal from his earlier stance. CNN reports quotes Kucinich as saying if the plan fails, “I doubt that this president or any president in the near future or any Congress in the near future will want to touch anything remotely related to health care.” He plans to continue working toward a single-payer plan, calling the current legislation a detour.

Two measures must be considered by the House on Sunday — the bill that passed the Senate, followed by the revised measure, which is expected to increase subsidies for the uninsured and scaling back the excise tax on insurance premiums so that fewer families are affected.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs at least 216 votes for passage.

If the Senate bill passes the House, it will then be left to President Obama to sign it into law. If the revisions are approved, the Senate will have to approve them first.

The middle class stands to gain the most. Those who obtained health insurance from employers dropped by three million between 2000 and 2008, according to the White House, and premiums are rising three times faster than wages. The middle class is losing health insurance at a faster rate than those in higher income brackets and those in lower income brackets.

Although this is far from the universal coverage many had hoped, it is estimated that under this plan we could achieve 95 percent coverage while reducing the deficit.

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Photo: National Institutes of Health

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

bu s.

11:11AM PDT on Mar 22, 2011

I agree with Darlene S. remark "We need to start somewhere."

Also we have to take care of all the Americans, no body deserves to die because there is absence of available medical help, and dont forget there are many that have not even gone for medical check up in years. tv commercials remind us to get medical check up. Yeah right! No body deserves cancer if it is early detected. No eye test? can go blind without the early detection? and the list goes on and on.
Whats the matter, do we lack empathy and good judgement?

send a green star

Past Member .

6:47AM PDT on Aug 25, 2010

Any doctors visits, medications, preventive health screenings (mammograms, pap smears, bone density tests, cholesterol, etc) comes out of my own pocket. Yes, there are programs which aid individuals with some of these and I take advantage of them as much as I can. Still I postponed a hip replacement for 3 years with increasing pain & debility because of not being able to afford the procedure & attendant expenses.
Increase Your Sales

Jaette C.

9:00PM PDT on Mar 22, 2010

I have begun reading the bill(s) on Thomas. They are actually quite thorough with regards to Medicare, Medicaid, small business, who shall pay what portion/ state or Fed/ individual.
Quite interesting and laid out logically. Persons with disability on SSI D exempt. Medicare/ closing doughnut hole for scripts and a cut to medicare advantage due to the fact that it was Govt. paying for separate private ins.(my understanding of that section, could be wrong, read it fast) Wish I could have a hard copy to read as it is hard to read all via computer and copying would blow out printer. Nonetheless, I am impressed at how it is laid out, as I say, quite thorough.

Linda F.

4:03PM PDT on Mar 22, 2010

Quite citing the post office as a government entity that doesn't work. It works very well. However, with reduced mail due to internet along with the spread of people further and further into the distant suburbs (usually former forests, but that's another issue), they just can't afford to visit each and every home 6 days a week.

9:44AM PDT on Mar 21, 2010

I don't like this bill, but I also recognize that with the Republicans digging their heels in this deeply, it's now or never. If we don't get a reform act of some kind passed now, it's not going to happen again for a generation.

P H.

7:08AM PDT on Mar 21, 2010

It is all smoke and mirrors. Both bills are terrible. we need real health care reform.

7:07AM PDT on Mar 21, 2010

The CBO is only concerned with overall government cost. In fact the reason it will save money is because it is taking money from medicare to subsidize the private insurance companies who benefit the most from this bill.

BILL MOYERS: Congressional Budget Office.

MARCIA ANGELL: Yes. They're not looking at the cost to the system as a whole, to the larger system. They're not looking at the private system. They're simply looking at the federal budget as a budgetary item.

BILL MOYERS: Right. They look at the government--

MARCIA ANGELL: The government part of that. So if they can save money in Medicare, then they come out ahead, no matter what happens out in the private sector. And so that's what he's talking about. It will take money out of Medicare and put it into the private sector. Medicare is the source for a lot of the funds that are going to go to subsidize the private health insurance industry. So that's the first thing. The second thing is the CBO has to build in assumptions. And those assumptions are arguable, to put it mildly.

And as far as cost-cutting, there are sort of promissory notes. â€˜We'll get a committee to look at the cost of effectiveness, of various medical procedures.'

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03052010/transcript3.html

Linda M.

2:11AM PDT on Mar 21, 2010

thanks for the post

2:08AM PDT on Mar 21, 2010

interesting

Val R.

4:22PM PDT on Mar 20, 2010

I don't agree with all that is being proposed BUT WE NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM and anything is better than what we have. We should listen to the Australian comments. Let's at least start with something rather than allowing the rich to stay rich and healthy and all others to fend for themselves.