CBO Estimate: Cut Medicare $400 bn, Raise "Device" taxes, = Deficit Neutral

The Congressional Budget Office has "run the numbers" on the Senate Finance Committee ("Baucus" bill.)

It will be "deficit neutral: over 10 years, IF Congress cuts Medicare by $400 billion, and raises taxes on "Medical Devices" AND still leaves 18 to 25 million uninsured!

The Senate Finance version has a decided middle-of-the-road flavor, shunning any provision for the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry. Nor does it require businesses to offer coverage to their workers, although large firms that do not would be required to offset the cost of any government subsidies going to those employees.

The measure would require that millions of Americans purchase private insurance for the first time, and would set up a new marketplace where policies would be available.

Federal subsidies would be available to millions of lower-income individuals and families to help defray the cost of coverage that would otherwise be out of their reach.

The measure would be paid for through a variety of tax increases and spending cuts, including savings of hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors.

Wednesday's report from CBO's director, Dr. Douglas Elmendorf, stressed that the estimates were preliminary.

It said that by 2019, "the number of nonelderly people who are uninsured would be reduced by about 29 million," either through private insurance or by enrolling in federal programs. That would leave an additional 25 million uninsured, about one-third of them illegal immigrants who are not eligible for coverage under the bill.

"Under the proposal, the share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage would rise from about 83 percent currently to about 94 percent," the letter said.

hosted.ap.org...


Seniors lose out. Medical cost increase!


And STILL somewhere around 20 million will be uninsured.

Who would've guessed?

Will update as I decipher the text.

(Told you so.)

jw

[edit on 7-10-2009 by jdub297]

[edit on 7-10-2009 by jdub297]

This is just now being covered by Sen. Baucus in a conference, and by several news agencies still going over the "mark up" bill and the "CBO scoring.

Bottom line:

40% tax on high-value insurance policies (equals higher premiums)

Seniors LOSE $400 billion in Medicare benefits they receive today.

Increased taxes on medical devices used in surgical repairs and life-maintenance

18 to 25 million STILL uninsured in 2019.

Didn't see that coming, did we?

jw

[edit on 7-10-2009 by jdub297]

Just goes to show...they could care less wether we live or die.its all about money: ( what a doctors oath this is.

reply to post by ziggy1706
Sad thing is, this is just a "preliminary" report, based on the Finance committee's statements!

They have not provided the "legislative language" to the CBO, or anybody else; just a summary.

It may get worse!

jw

update:

The CBO estimates that the "fines" for non-coverage and employers will provide $27 billion of funding for the program.

www.cbo.gov...

More to come.

OR they can sop all the damn wars and foreign occupations.

Second line

reply to post by Beefcake
I don't think they can stop "all the damn wars." Most "occupations" are not by the US.

However, withdrawing from Afghanistan and Iraq and Cuba would result in reduced federal outlays, as currently budgeted, of at least $100 billion per year beginning in 2012.

It will take at least 18 months to complete withdrawal and remediation of occupied territory, assuming current levels and projections.

Costs of drawdown would add to the current and projected deficits due to the increased costs of base transition, closure, transport and remediation over current operations and defensive forces necessary until complete evacuation.

Roughly.