Missed By That Much
What’s the big deal? Obama was only off by a smidgeon. What’s $876 billion when you are guaranteed to get worse service, less coverage, higher insurance premiums, higher co-pays, and ultimately being put to death by a panel of government bureaucrats.
New CBO health law estimate shows much higher spending past first 10 years
Published March 14, 2012 |
The Congressional Budget Office has extended its cost estimates for President Obama’s health care law out to 2022, taking in more years of full implementation, and showing that the bill is substantially more expensive — twice as much as the original $900 billion price tag.
In a largely overlooked segment of the CBO’s update to the budget outlook released Tuesday, the independent arm of Congress found that the bill will cost $1.76 trillion between now and 2022.
That only counts the cost of coverage, not implementation costs and other changes.
“The bill spends more than the president promised, it covers fewer people — probably 2 million fewer people — and it taxes more than was expected,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee.
The first estimates of the cost of the health care bill included three years before the bill even took effect, so there was little or no spending, making the full 10 years look less expensive. Sessions notes that the $1.76 trillion estimate includes only the costs of coverage, not implementation and other costs. He argues that all those drive the price up even further over the first full 10 years of the law.
“The full accounting of the bill is $2.6 trillion. That’s a fair and accurate analysis of what the bill would cost, according to CBO,” Sessions said, noting how the cost dwarfs the fight over the 10-year debt reduction plan debated last year.
“We spent a whole summer fighting over a way to reduce spending by $2.1 trillion and here this bill is going add $2.6 trillion more in spending.”
Budget watchdogs note that before the bill passed into law, Republicans warned the price tag was bound to go up — since the expenditures and receipts covered different time periods.
“Spending doesn’t begin until 2014, and so you got to count a couple of years where nothing was going on,” said Doug Holtz-Eakin, director of Committee for a Responsible Budget. “If you have a big spending program and you count 10 years of it instead of eight years, you get a much bigger number, which is what we’ve done. …
“Now those years are steadily going into the rearview mirror and what we’re instead (at) are years where it’s fully implemented,” Holtz-Eakin continued. “The Affordable Care Act is going to cost a lot of money.”
But one Democratic lawmaker says competition will lower costs.
“There are no public options. There’s no big new government health plan being offered. It’s all private sector options, and we hope they compete against each other to get prices down,” said Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.
As expensive as it is, the CBO predicts the law will actually reduce the deficit because it increases the income from a range of tax increases and penalties on individuals, employers and insurance companies — by $81 billion more than last year’s projection.
“Over the 10-year period from 2012 through 2021, enactment of the coverage provisions of the ACA was projected last March to increase federal deficits by $1,131 billion, whereas the March 2012 estimate indicates that those provisions will increase deficits by $1,083 billion,” the report reads.
The CBO model also assumes that between 3 million and 5 million people will lose health care coverage from their employers and there will be 1 million to 2 million more people who won’t qualify for the exchanges but will go on Medicaid instead. In all, some 30 million people will remain without health coverage, according to the estimate.
CBO notes that it bases its new projections in part on both a slower recovery and a smaller than estimated growth in health care costs over the past year as well as legislative fixes over the past year.
Sessions noted that the study projects spending in accordance with the law will add at least $700 billion to the deficit in the years 2010 to 2019 — its first 10 years of enactment.
“Sadly, it may prove much worse than that,” he said.
Administrator says:
Commentary on The Capital Markets Posted 2012-03-15 11:39
by Karl Denninger
Oh, Obama Lied About Obamacare? (No, Really?)
Yeah, we’re going to cut the deficit in half in my first term, right? (Obama promise)
Truth?
The Congressional Budget Office has extended its cost estimates for President Obama’s health care law out to 2022, taking in more years of full implementation, and showing that the bill is substantially more expensive — twice as much as the original $900 billion price tag.
In a largely overlooked segment of the CBO’s update to the budget outlook released Tuesday, the independent arm of Congress found that the bill will cost $1.76 trillion between now and 2022.
Oops.
This is how Washington works folks. Make claims that are patently false. On purpose.
Rig the scoring so the numbers come up “as you want”, pass it, then stick the taxpayer with the truth later on. When called on it tell the people that if they don’t put up with another $2 trillion immediately in borrowing authority that a meteor of a mile diameter will strike their house and lay waste the entire nation — tomorrow.
As expensive as it is, the CBO predicts the law will actually reduce the deficit because it increases the income from a range of tax increases and penalties on individuals, employers and insurance companies — by $81 billion more than last year’s projection.
No it won’t because those tax increases won’t happen. We’ve already seen that, right? We had a “temporary” reduction in the payroll tax that Congress now can’t let expire, just as the “temporary” Bush tax cuts couldn’t be allowed to expire either.
None of the candidates or officeholders will actually increase taxes.
Nor will they, as you can see, cut spending — until forced to do so by the market.
Yes, Granny, that is a wall up ahead, we are hurtling toward it at 100mph and Barack Obama has his foot jammed on the accelerator.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to tell you — the car we’re in was built by Government Motors and the doors don’t unlock nor can the ignition be turned off.
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15th March 2012 at 3:17 pm
Hollow man says:
Wait until the dysfunctionals actually start to work on it full steam. Then the cost will really explode. This is jst the beginning. The Iran war kill a lot of future taxpayers too. It will make a great mini seris for the China man to watch after we fall. Call it self destruction by boomer idiots!
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15th March 2012 at 3:23 pm
stan says:
Dear Leader speak with forked tongue..
http://obamalies.net/
http://obamalies.net/
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15th March 2012 at 4:23 pm
AWD says:
The government employee drone bureaucrat-parasites making $150,000 per year have only started ramping up budgets and promotions for themselves. By the time Obamacare is up and running, there will be tens of thousands more worthless shit-eating government parasites running your health. Haft the money spent on healthcare will go for salaries and administrative costs for endless bureaucrats, regulation and policy. The parasites will also make sure there is at least a 25% fraud factor built in, so people can rip-off and game Obamacare to steal tens of billions.
If you have an Obamacare card, you won’t be able to find a doctor or actually get healthcare. The parasites will see to that. They’ll ration out 10% of spending for actual healthcare, just like the HMO’s do.
It’s okay though. The government will be bankrupt in 3 years when Obamacare is fully implemented.
Obama will be playing golf, vacationing, and making $200,000 per speech on his “America wasn’t ready for a black president” tour.
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15th March 2012 at 4:43 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
The fucking CBO can kiss my Texas grits. These are the same douchebags that said Obamacare was going to save money right before the big vote when it passed. I don’t believe a fucking thing these sacks of shit say. I can’t recall ANY “analysis” they have made in the last 20 years that is worth a fart in a hurricane.
Now that Obama is turning out to be the turd in the fishbowl (which we all knew he was all along), it is veeerrry interesting that the CBO says this at this time. I would really like to see the financial statements of the members of the CBO before and after the Obamacare vote.
One of the many goals of Obamacare is the destruction of the private healthcare industry – the insurers and the providers. When we fail, not if we fail, ask yourself – what happens to an industry in America that is Too Big To Fail? You get bought out by the taxpayers for pennies on the dollar, if you are lucky. And the quality and quantity of whatever industry got bailed out sucks even worse.
I hope Americans like the wonderful service and competence of the Post Office, of Amtrak, of the green energy boondoggles, of Congress, of the Dept of Stupification, of the Dept of Homeland Security, etc, etc, because that is what American medicine is about to devolve to.
I have fully embraced the Doom that I will not be practicing medicine in 4-5 years, assuming we survive the impending sovereign debt default of the US of A. I don’t know what I will do, honestly. I sucked at waiting tables and got fired from Jack in the Box as a teenage (for not sitting on the manager’s lap). I’m told that my last attempt at belly dancing at a party was pretty good so maybe I’ll take some lessons and make a go at that.
Stay healthy, get done NOW whatever medical stuff you need to do, because the American health care system is collapsing all around us, trust me on this.
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15th March 2012 at 5:08 pm
Anonymous says:
Dear Leader
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15th March 2012 at 5:12 pm
Stucky says:
After eating too many Jack-In-The-Box dinners, HZK decides to lose weight via belly dancing.
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15th March 2012 at 5:43 pm
Drowning in Parasitism says:
Somehow I find absolutely no consolation in being able to say “I told you so.”
The really sad part is the majority of people who were actually satisfied with their private health care program and saw through the whole, socialist boondoggle will see their plans destroyed for this catastrophe.
A reminder of the nighmarish, Frankenstein creation called (fittingly dare I say) “Obamacare”:
http://jec.senate.gov/republicans/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=8e6dbf03-ca4a-44be-9de4-a100c43fb5c8
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15th March 2012 at 6:24 pm
bigargon says:
well we know how accurate CBO is , the truth is likely to be 200% to 1000% higher.
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15th March 2012 at 7:10 pm
TeresaE says:
Obamacare, and all its vaccination, test this, pill that, mandates, has already increased our costs to be healthy by over 100% – in less than three years.
We cannot afford to pay nearly $3000 a month to pay for insurance for two employees and my family of three. Let alone pay our co-pays, deductibles and billing screw ups if we were to be sick.
None of us use the system except for the absolute bare minimum. Yet our premiums went from annual increases of 10-20%, to slashing the benefit, to now costing more than twice what our good plan (with dental, accidental life and A+ prescriptions) cost in ’04 for the crap BCBS plan we have now.
So, we are going off the program. For the time being, but soon to be outlawed, you can get a good high-deductible plan where you slash your monthly costs to pay as you go. But the fuckers are taking that away from us too. I’m hoping we can just pay the fine ($750 per family member), pass the fine along to our employees (they can deal with the IRS, I’ll up their withholding for them), and still be covered in case of catastrophe.
Today there are MORE uninsured than before Obamacare was passed. The number of small businesses that the insurers can fuck and make up for the undersold premiums for government & unions & megacorps, is dropping, which means more and more people are going to find themselves without insurance.
And then they will find themselves in the surreal world of making less than $50k gross for two working parents, while contemplating how to pay over $22k per year for “health” insurance plus childcare, plus utilities and food for their clan. Oh, that’s right, no problem, I’m sure they will soon qualify for food stamps to make up for it.
Crazy, unsustainable, bank benefiting, union buying, pharmaceutical sucking, death plan.
Ready or not, here we come.
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15th March 2012 at 7:11 pm
TeresaE says:
Oh yeah, final thought, if the CBO says it will cost twice as much, we can all guarantee it will cost at least four times as much.
As for the taxes, the reason they won’t get paid is that it is really hard to get blood from turnips. Their big plans to fine the shit out of small biz and middle class workers is going to backfire big time.
Tell me, if you found out that if you slash your problems in half (by shutting down parts of your company), and make sure you are under your magic employee number, learn to live with less and NOT have to pay the taxes, wouldn’t you consider it? I read where llpoh was downsizing, he (and my company) cannot be the only ones. (and we’re not, it is happening all over).
Then throw in the fact that jobs are now temporary, part time and low paid, and just who in the hell does the CBO, CONgress, and Obama think is going to be paying these fines to help their budget problems? Do they think people are going to sign up for more work and just turn that extra wage over to the IRS?
bwaaahaaaa. Garbage in, garbage out. Farking idiot criminals.
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15th March 2012 at 7:16 pm
Muck About says:
Very few cost estimates of anything will be even laughable in a little over two weeks.
The system is about to get a reset. Get ready for it.
MA
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15th March 2012 at 8:13 pm
Darwin says:
I’d ask all the Hope and Changers if they’re happy with their deity now that he’s bankrupted the country permanently and the truth is out and, wait, they’d just reply that the answer is simple – “Higher taxes on the rich”. The givers will get always bear the brunt while the takers demand more. The country’s been trained so well.
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15th March 2012 at 8:44 pm
AWD says:
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15th March 2012 at 10:15 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
@Stucky: I love you man. That fatso belly dancer has had me LOL all afternoon. Really needed that after the gawd awful week I have been having. *****wiping tears of laughter off my face****
@TheresaE: AWESOME RANT!!!!!!!! Youneed to fax it to every bonehead douchebag CONgresscritter, all 42 Czars, Odumbo and every news outlet you can. It is a brillant takedown of the current insane policy of eating the Golden Goose, aka, taxing and regulating the Middle Class and small business right out of existence. You go girl!,,,,
Back to my belly dancing lessons.
AWD’s pix have inspired me.
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15th March 2012 at 10:44 pm
Celsus says:
When it comes down to it, the people above are all Republicans who don’t want millions of others to have health insurance coverage or health care because the sum total of their comments is that since they only care about themselves, they will invent all kinds of scare tactics to justify the continuation of a system that did not work for many, including those with serious, very complex and expensive illnesses. Despite all the wild and idle speculation above, no one pointed out, as is the case with Republicans, that medical expenses are the largest cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. That is something that is bad for the economy, but is ignored by right-wingers. Many of the fearful objections will work themselves out. Further legislative changes and improvements most likely will occur in the future. Hate of the government as expressed above is in its most basic form hate of one’s fellow citizens for whom the system was not working. It has been well-documented that insurance companies often did wrong by their customers, and have been raising premiums for a long time. Employers started cutting health benefits long before the Health Care Affordability Act was passed.
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15th March 2012 at 8:35 pm
AWD says:
This was a good post, expect it’s off by a factor of 10. It’s only going to cost a 1000x more than reported by Obama, who didn’t read the bill but collected millions from health insurance lobbyists.
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15th March 2012 at 8:39 pm
Administrator says:
Celsus
Where will the money come from? Answer that simple question. I want specifics. Not some liberal gibberish about efficiency and making insurance companies pay. They fucking wrote the law that Pelosi never read.
Your liberal drivel about things working themselves out is bullshit. Everything the Federal Government touches gets fucked up.
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15th March 2012 at 8:39 pm
AWD says:
Celsus:
“Many of the fearful objections will work themselves out. Further legislative changes and improvements most likely will occur in the future.”
Stupid shit. You obviously have no understand of what just happened. Turn back in to MSNBC, and they’ll tell you what to think next. How things will work themselves out dipshit:
“We have not yet begun to Tax”
(Obama, not Patrick Henry)
Yea, more politicians, legislation, and government involvement will fix a problem created by the politicians, legislators and government. Typical progressive mindfuck.
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15th March 2012 at 8:45 pm
TeresaE says:
Celsus, glad to see someone that has obviously created something of value that you shared with your employees took the time to weigh in on this.
What a tool.
My policy has nearly TRIPLED since this POS legislation (and the health-related bills from the “Stimulus” too) was enacted.
FUCKING TRIPLED.
I could hire another person for the amount I have to pay for a high-deductible policy for TWO workers, not their families.
I just looked it up and over the past 5 years my company has paid $100,000 to insure FIVE (or less) people.
Over the same time I’ve estimated our claims to amount to less than $1000.
Tell me again how great this is? Tell me again how 100 million Americans receiving monthly doc visits, tests and thousands of dollars of pills is going to “save” a thing? Tell me again how adding hundreds of thousands of government employees, ALL paid for life, ALL with better health care than I’ll ever have will save money?
Tell me again Celsus, I’m in the mood for a good fairy tale.
And, btw, I’m not a fucking Republican, nor am I a fucking Democrat. But nice way to generalize.
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15th March 2012 at 11:23 am