Friday, March 29, 2013

Actual cost of health care bill ( Affordable Care Act )

Two things caught my attention recently.

First, this CBO report.  Look at the two lines; how much the NET cost of the bill is, over ten years:

$1,680,000,000,000

Just over $1.5 Trillion.

Now look at the "gross" cost... or minus the tax revenue that's been promised?

$1,165,000,000,000





This means that the actual cost is just over $1 Trillion.
Now I know what you're going to say.  Hey... look at the small print?

Those amounts do not reflect the total budgetary impact of the ACA. That legislation included many other provisions that, on net, will reduce budget deficits. 

As usual, the government is telling us that it really won't cost anything.  Because the bill contains cost cutting measures that in the long run, will offset that $1 trillion.  Right?  For instance, as you know, the government is planning on cutting $711 billion in "waste, fraud, and abuse" from medicare.

So... if that's true, we should see at least a stabilization of Medicare costs.  Yes?
Let's check in and see what the government is planning from 2011-2021:
Medicare spending is estimated to have grown 6.3% in 2011 and projected to grow an average of 6.1% per year over the projection period.

Huh.  That is not a cut.  Which means that Medicare is still going to rise, and there will be no cost savings.  Yes?

So... that was all just bullshit.  Right?

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