Thursday, April 29, 2010
Health Care Reform
AOL News Staff
AOL News
(March 17) -- What will health care reform do to health spending, premiums, deficits and so on?
With details about the final bill still being worked out and fresh cost estimates flying back and forth on Capitol Hill, the exact effects of health care reform are still not entirely clear.
But the changes to the Senate bill that the House is working on aren't likely to be dramatic. So the numbers below aren't likely to be too far off the mark.
National health spending
An analysis of the Senate bill by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that it would push spending on health care up by $222 billion over the next decade, compared with no reform (see table 5 in this report).
Premiums
Reform's effects on premiums depends on how you get coverage. The Congressional Budget Office found that Senate bill:
Would have little to no effect on premiums for workers in big companies, compared with no reform;
Could either boost premiums slightly, or lower them slightly for workers in small companies;
Would push premiums up as much as 17% for those in the individual market. But more than half of these people would be able to get taxpayer subsidies that would cut insurance costs well below what would be the case without reform.
Deficit reduction
The CBO says the Senate bill would cut the deficit by $118 billion between now and 2019. That sounds like a lot, but it amounts to less than 3% of the more than $4 trillion in deficits the government will run over the next decade if President Barack Obama's overall budget plans are enacted. In 2019, for example, the deficit would be $1.253 trillion without reform, and $1.242 trillion with reform.
Universal coverage
While the Senate bill would cover 30 million additional people by 2019, it would still leave 23 million without coverage that year, according to the CBO.
When will it take effect?
In the Senate bill, at least, several reforms -- including insurance market reforms -- don't kick in until 2014. The House similarly delayed enactment of reforms. A key reason was to make the budget numbers add up over the first 10 years, since new taxes and fees, as well as cost-control measures, start immediately, while programs that spend tax money are delayed. Some supporters of reform admit this is a budget gimmick.
AOL News
(March 17) -- What will health care reform do to health spending, premiums, deficits and so on?
With details about the final bill still being worked out and fresh cost estimates flying back and forth on Capitol Hill, the exact effects of health care reform are still not entirely clear.
But the changes to the Senate bill that the House is working on aren't likely to be dramatic. So the numbers below aren't likely to be too far off the mark.
National health spending
An analysis of the Senate bill by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that it would push spending on health care up by $222 billion over the next decade, compared with no reform (see table 5 in this report).
Premiums
Reform's effects on premiums depends on how you get coverage. The Congressional Budget Office found that Senate bill:
Would have little to no effect on premiums for workers in big companies, compared with no reform;
Could either boost premiums slightly, or lower them slightly for workers in small companies;
Would push premiums up as much as 17% for those in the individual market. But more than half of these people would be able to get taxpayer subsidies that would cut insurance costs well below what would be the case without reform.
Deficit reduction
The CBO says the Senate bill would cut the deficit by $118 billion between now and 2019. That sounds like a lot, but it amounts to less than 3% of the more than $4 trillion in deficits the government will run over the next decade if President Barack Obama's overall budget plans are enacted. In 2019, for example, the deficit would be $1.253 trillion without reform, and $1.242 trillion with reform.
Universal coverage
While the Senate bill would cover 30 million additional people by 2019, it would still leave 23 million without coverage that year, according to the CBO.
When will it take effect?
In the Senate bill, at least, several reforms -- including insurance market reforms -- don't kick in until 2014. The House similarly delayed enactment of reforms. A key reason was to make the budget numbers add up over the first 10 years, since new taxes and fees, as well as cost-control measures, start immediately, while programs that spend tax money are delayed. Some supporters of reform admit this is a budget gimmick.
Labels: conspiracy, crooked politics, government, health care reform
