Dem Source: CBO Says Health Bill Cuts Deficit, Costs $940 Billion

The bill would reduce the deficit by $130 billion in the first ten years, and potentially by $1.2 trillion in the second ten years.

OK. That's the news, but here is CNN headlline.

Source: CBO estimates health care bill at $940 billion

And here is Fox headline.

Health Care Bill Estimated to Cost $940 Billion Over 10 Years

Notice anything?

Idaho become the first state to "opt-out" of health-care reform. Virginia soon to follow. The Opt-Out public option would have been a political coup for Democrats. A missed opportunity.

With that said, the CBO score comes in over the $900 billion threshold, eh. What's a billion here and a billion there amongst friends? Passed the darn thing and lets move on.

Nice reference to The Jerk.

"(though CBO always warns that projections into the second decade are extremely unpredictable)"

LOL

It saves money from the current basis. However, once the Senate bill is enacted, that becomes the new basis. The ability to use the reconciliation procedure to get the House amendment through the Senate is dependent upon it offering a savings over that basis. If I understand the news story correctly, it would increase costs over the unamended Senate bill and therefore throw a monkey wrench into the reconciliation strategy.

Can someone help me out? If the house passes the bill doesn't the senate bill become law? If so, why in the world would they vote against the bill that fixes some of the shit the repubs have been crying about?

FIXED NEWS IS A WASTE OF TIME.....PARTY OF KLANSMEN DO NOT GET IT.

The ReFoxlicans will not be satisfied until Obama is impeached. That is their ultimate goal. If they take back House and/or Senate that will be priority #1.

The most logical (like logic is even recognized in our government) solution would be to create universal medical coverage for all citizens and those that are paying taxes. The current, private health insurance companies, who are raping their members, would then remain as optional, supplemental insurers for those that can both afford such coverage and feel that universal is not sufficient for them. These companies will be able to freely choose their own policies, pick whomever they would like to cover, and charge what they like in a free market.

The universal coverage will be paid for by an income tax, which will be offset by whatever you are currently paying now, and/or by your employer's contribution. Everyone is covered, most-everyone pays, no forms and no denials. Doctors will practice medicine, and not litigation-mitigation (e.g. let's test you for everything and send you to three specialists..... just in case).

Over-testing and over-prescribing are driving up costs very rapidly. If a doctor's billings are beyond a certain, statistical value, their records can be looked at, reviewed, and adjustments made between a medical review board and the practice. Lawyers will need to be kept at bay, however, and this is a related but different issue.

This is rather funny. Tax the wealthy till there are no more. What is wrong with being wealthy? How many of you are employed by the poor? It is strange, I can remember when everyone wanted to work hard, get ahead, become wealthy and live the life they wanted to. Now many want to sit around, complain and get paid for it. If this health care bill is so great, why does congress and obama not want to fall under it themselves. Not to many of you ask that question. So have a little more kool-aid. This will surely mean, the government will end up running this program and there will be no savings or a reduction of the deficit. Once this bill passes, even if it is the Antichrist of bills it will never go away. It will become an albatross and we will pay for the rest of our great great great and so on grand children. The government has never run a program that it has not run into the ground.

If universal health care is so great, why did the head of the Canadian health care system come here to have heart surgery. ANSWER: His DOCTOR advised him too.

THAT LAST STATEMENT SHOULD BE THE ANSWER TO IT ALL...

I want health care reform but not a system run by the government. I want to see the final bill, this is something that affects the American people as a whole. It needs to stay in the light of the day and not get whisked off to be rewritten once the dust settles.

Ok just a little economics for all of the folks that think the wealthy and business should get taxed more. Businesses never pay taxes, I repeat business never pays taxes. The consumer pays them and buy consumer I mean you. Ever notice right after a nice tax hike prices go up and everyone complains, SURPRISE there's your new tax. Hey taxes only went up on business.

If there is universal health care why would any business pay for an independent health care policy. That will vanish and all that is left is the government program, notice how now it is a program because that is what it will become. So there is something to look forward to. How many of you are on welfare, don't worry you soon will be.

I think if this shite sandwich passes and if these number are even close we can all be put in the "WE'RE F'D" category!

...To see the bill’s true first-decade costs, we need to start the clock when the costs would actually start in any meaningful way: in 2014. The CBO says that Obamacare would cost $2.0 trillion in the bill’s real first decade (from 2014 to 2023) — and much more in the decades to come.

But $2.0 trillion wouldn’t be the total ten-year costs. Instead, that would merely be the “gross cost of coverage provisions.” Based on earlier incarnations of the proposed overhaul, the total costs would be about a third higher (the exact number can’t be gleaned from the CBO’s analysis, which is only preliminary and is not a full scoring) — making the total price-tag between $2.5 and $3 trillion over the bill’s real first decade.

How would we pay for all of this? According to the CBO, by diverting $1.1 trillion away from already barely-solvent Medicare and spending it on Obamacare, and by increasing taxes on the American people by over $1 trillion....

...And what would we get for all of this? The CBO says that health insurance premiums would rise by 10 to 13 percent in the individual market, in relation to current law. The Medicare Chief Actuary says that the percentage of the gross domestic product spent on health care would also rise in relation to current law, increasing from 17 percent today to 21 percent in 2019. And, as the CBO reports in its latest scoring, as of 2019 there would still be 23 million people in America lacking health insurance...