CBO: Dems' Health Care Plan Likely to Drive Health Costs & Deficits Higher Than Ever | Republican Leader John Boehner

CBO: Dems' Health Care Plan Likely to Drive Health Costs & Deficits Higher Than Ever | Republican Leader John Boehner

Boehner: Dems "Need to Scrap This Costly Plan and Work with Republicans on Reducing Health Care Costs Without Hanging Taxpayers Out to Dry"

Washington, Jul 27 - The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) dealt the Democrats’ government takeover of health care not one, but two sharp blows this weekend – confirming that a key proposal touted as a cost-saver would actually save taxpayers almost no money, despite Democrats’ claims to the contrary, and that the Democrats’ massive government-run plan will add billions to the federal deficit. Here’s the news that has made Democrats’ month even worse:

• “For the second time this month, congressional budget analysts have dealt a blow to the [Democrats’] health reform efforts, this time by saying a plan touted by the White House as crucial to paying for the bill would actually save almost no money over 10 years… [O]n Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years – a drop in the bucket compared to the bill's $1 trillion price tag. ‘In CBO’s judgment, the probability is high that no savings would be realized ... but there is also a chance that substantial savings might be realized. Looking beyond the 10-year budget window, CBO expects that this proposal would generate larger but still modest savings on the same probabilistic basis,’ CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote in a letter to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Saturday.” (“CBO deals new blow to health plan,” Politico, July 25, 2009)
• “As discussed in CBO’s letter of July 17, we estimate that the proposal as a whole would increase federal deficits by $239 billion over the 2010–2019 period… In sum, relative to current law, the proposal would probably generate substantial increases in federal budget deficits during the decade beyond the current 10-year budget window.” (CBO letter to Rep. Dave Camp [R-MI], July 26, 2009)

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) highlighted the two CBO reports, which add to the list of problems Democrats face as they attempt to sort out their intra-party health care squabble this week:

“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the Democrats’ government takeover of health care is a raw deal for taxpayers and future generations too, since they’ll be forced to pick up the tab for the Democrats’ $1.6 trillion experiment. Families and small businesses struggling with high health care costs deserve better, and so do our children and grandchildren, who would inherit the fiscal mess the Democrats’ government-run scheme would leave behind. Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues in the Democratic leadership need to scrap this costly plan and work with Republicans on reducing health care costs without hanging taxpayers out to dry.”

Americans want real health care reform – a plan that lowers their costs and lets them keep their current coverage if they like it. The Democrats’ government-run plan doesn’t provide that. Instead, it provides almost no savings for taxpayers, while running the deficit even higher over the next decade and beyond. Isn’t it time for Democrats to finally end their partisan “go it alone” approach and work with Republicans on a plan that fixes what’s broken in our health care system, without adding hundreds of billions to the tab inherited by future generations?