Budget Experts Say Obama’s Health Bill Would Reduce Deficit
Congressional budget experts said President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system would reduce the country’s ballooning budget deficit, AFP reported.
The health care reform plan currently before the Senate Finance Committee would reduce the budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years at a total cost of $829 billion dollars, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Obama had continuously stated that his health reform push would not increase budget deficits by "one dime."
The CBO said legislation that would extend health insurance to some 46 million people who currently lack coverage in the United States would also likely lead to "continued reductions in federal budget deficits".
Playing a key role in designing the legislation was Senator Max Baucus, who hailed the findings as he seeks to obtain support from at least one Republican, Senator Olympia Snowe, and convince centrist Democrats who still remain skeptical.
Baucus said on the Senate floor that a balanced approach to health reform had paid off yet again, and he called the legislation a “smart investment on the federal balance sheet, and an even smarter investment for American families, businesses and our economy”.
The CBO said 94 percent of non-elderly U.S. residents would have insurance coverage under the proposal, up from the current 83 percent. The plan would see nearly 30 million more U.S. residents covered by insurance.
Now the Senate Finance Committee can reconcile its measure with the Health Committee before a full Senate decision.
Congress is currently reviewing a total of five different versions of health care reform, with weeks of debate expected before any final version of the bill comes to a vote.
The health care reform strategy is crucial to Obama’s political viability, and lawmakers in his Democratic Party are seeking a final vote before the end of 2009.
Republicans are concerned that the bill could raise costs and increase the budget deficit.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Minority Leader, called the draft legislation "partisan" and warned it would "never see the Senate floor since the real bill will be written by Democrat leaders in a closed-to-the-public conference room somewhere in the Capitol."
"The real bill will be another 1,000-page, trillion-dollar experiment that slashes a half-trillion dollars from seniors’ Medicare, raises taxes on American families by 400 billion dollars, increases health care premiums and vastly expands the role of the federal government in the personal health care decisions of every American," he said.
But according to the CBO, the bill would "significantly expand" eligibility for Medicaid, and "substantially reduce" increases in payment rates for most services provided by Medicare. An excise tax would also be imposed on insurance plans with "relatively high" premiums.
Decisions over a "public option," a new government-run insurance program Obama and liberal Democrats say will increase competition in the insurance business and drive down costs, have been divided.
Baucus’s plan does not include that option, substituting it instead with a non-profit cooperative.
"The proposed co-ops seem unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas of the country or to noticeably affect federal subsidy payments," the CBO said.
The Senate Health Committee’s bill and versions passed in House panels do include a public option.
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