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How many uninsured need additional help? Conclusion.

Budgetary offsets and a tax increase proposal rejected months ago by Congress

The President understates the annual cost of new health care spending by a factor of two.

So much for the pharmaceutical industry’s deal with the White House…

The House bill would take Medicare savings need for Medicare solvency and spend them on a new entitlement.

“Waiting in line”

Is “paying for” a new health care entitlement good enough? Does the President have a plan to slow private sector health cost growth? Will everyone who wants to keep their health plan be able to do so? Are opponents of Kennedy-Dodd defenders of the status quo? Will private sector reforms offset an 11% expansion in federal health entitlement spending? Will a government option drive private insurers out of business? Is a government option negotiable for the President?

The rapid growth of per capita health spending in the U.S. is a critical policy problem that needs to be addressed. It is not, however, the primary driver of our federal budget problems over the next 30-40 years. The aging of the population is. Policy changes need to address both pressures to prevent an eventual fiscal meltdown. We must not ignore demographics.

The President and his Budget Director Peter Orszag argue they are being fiscally responsible when they support a massive new health entitlement. But combining Kennedy-Dodd with all of the President’s proposed Medicare and Medicaid savings would make America’s long-term entitlement spending problem much worse than under current law.

The Senate HELP Committee staff has filed an official copy of their draft legislation with the Senate clerk.  A friend and I were discussing today two possible tactical scenarios:

The weekend leak forced the majority staff to release their official text as damage control.  Under this scenario, filing the official copy is a damage mitigation strategy:  [...]