Even if it only cuts into the profits of th e insurance companies, it will save billions..but that is not all it will do.
http://economyincrisis.org/content/how-health-care-bill-will-save-us-moneyhttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/new_cbo_analysis_says_the_sena.htmlNew CBO analysis says the Senate bill reduces the deficit. Still.
This won't be shocking to many of you, but the Congressional Budget Office just released an updated analysis for the Senate health-care bill, and it finds that it reduces the deficit, much as its predecessors did. The first 10 years see savings of $118 billion, and the second 10 years see savings in excess of $600 billion. Most striking is that "CBO expects that the legislation would generate a reduction in the federal budgetary commitment to health care during the decade following 2019," which is to say that this bill will cover 30 million people but the cost controls will, within a decade or so, leave us spending less on health care than if we'd done nothing.
That's a pretty good deal.
But it's not a very well-understood deal. In their Wall Street Journal op-ed, pollsters Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen observed that "people simply don't trust the official projections. People in Washington may live and die by the pronouncements of the Congressional Budget Office, but 81% of voters say it's likely the plan will end up costing more than projected."
That's obvious enough. People understand the part of the bill that costs money: We're buying health-care insurance for folks who can't afford it themselves. They don't understand the parts of the bill that save money: We're taxing high-value benefits? We've got a Medicare Commission empowered to make unnamed reforms to the system? We're moving toward bundling for hospital payments in Medicare? And since few know about these policies, much less understand them, the projections that show the bill saving money don't make much sense, and so voters don't believe them.
http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/health-care-bill-will-cut-deficit-says-non-partisan-cbo/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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