Cato Institute: The True Cost Of The Health Care Bill Is Over $6 Trillion

Proof • November 29, 2009

Cato’s Michael Cannon notes that there are two primary budgeting tricks being used by Democrats to conceal the true cost of their health care bill.
The first trick has to do with timing. In the analysis of the cost of the bill the Democrats are using they use a 10 year window that has the bill collecting revenues (taxes) for all ten of those years while actually only starting to pay out for health care for six years. By front-loading the revenues liberals can claim that the bill is deficit-neutral even though in the long run nothing is further from the truth.
The second trick has to do with the way the cost of the insurance mandate to the public is calculated. The Democrats account for Americans paying taxes to the government under this bill, and for the government paying for health care under the bill, but they don’t account for the health insurance mandate forcing Americans to pay direction for the government-defined health care plan that will be their only choice.
The cost of both of these things to the public, both in the form of money paid to the government and money spent to comply with government mandates? Over $6 trillion:

When we correct for both gimmicks, counting both on- and off-budget costs over the first 10 years of implementation, the total cost of ObamaCare reaches — I’m so sorry about this — $6.25 trillion. That’s not a precise estimate. It’s just far closer to the truth than President Obama and congressional Democrats want the debate to be.

This isn’t hyperbole. This is fact. And, what’s more, if the government decides to try and keep these costs down they’ll accomplish it through rationing including things like refusing to cover mammograms for women in their 40′s.
Our health care status quo is far from perfect. But this bill, as Howard Dean himself recently pointed out, makes things worse. Not better.

Tags: Asshats, Domestic Issues, Politics

http://Array sayanything-203

WOOF,

Your question is relevant only AFTER it has been decided that the taxpayers, not individual Americans, are responsible for the cost of people’s health care.
sayanything-2

The gay bashing, self-professed Anarchist, dinothefakehomo, crying for “civilization”. Too f&cking funny.
sayanything-2

Liar,
Liar,
A$$ on fire.
sayanything-2

The Feds mandate it be done, the states, counties, and municipalities foot the bills. And spark? Whose bright idea was all this in the first place? Why the deafening silence?
sayanything-203

We all wind up paying for the uninsured when they get sick
enough to wind up in hospital.

WOOF,

Forgive me, but I don’t recall being part of the decision to pay for uninsured. Exactly when was that decision made, and who made it?

We lose their productivity and taxes when they are ill.

“We” have lost nothing when they are ill. “We” are not entitled to either their productivity, and those of us on/in the Right aren’t likely to be terribly concerned with so-called “lost” federal tax revenues until those of you on the left start to recognize that spending our way to prosperity when we don’t have the money doesn’t work.

If you are going to try to use that rather lame lost taxes argument, perhaps you should focus your concern on the 12-20 million illegal aliens in this country instead.
sayanything-2

And whose bright idea was it to do that? If hospitals can’t pursue people who owe them money how are they supposed to get it? Oh, thats right. They can, AND they collect from the government. Again, whose bright idea was all this in the first place?
sayanything-2

And this is just 10 years, project it out and wrap your head around THOSE numbers.
AKA WOOF

We all wind up paying for the uninsured when they get sick
enough to wind up in hospital.
We lose their productivity and taxes when they are ill.
AKA WOOF

What’s the lack of health care cost?
sayanything-203

Sparkie,

A small correction: The federal government pays for the uninsured’s hospital bills. The Fed does no such thing. With your education, that sort of imprecision should be intolerable.
sayanything-4416

The bad citizens chime in to clamor for the repeal of civilization.

Cato isn’t to be believed.
sayanything-7406

I’d also like to know where in the US Constitution does it allow this so-called health care “reform”?

To put it simply: I don’t owe it to anyone else to pay for their healthcare and neither does anyone else owe it to me. So the federal government can leave me alone and butt-out of my business.
sayanything-81

The fed does pay for the uninsured hospital bills.

Those people treat the ER as their primary physician.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

And, of course, the taxpayers aren’t responsible for the cost of people’s health care.

Buy your own health insurance, Poodle. Don’t sit around expecting other people to buy it for you.

SayAnythingBlog.com

Cato Institute: The True Cost Of The Health Care Bill Is Over $6 Trillion

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