How Much Does the Pelosi Bill Really Cost?
According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s press release, the cost is $894 billion. But this figure is net of certain new revenues, including penalties by individuals and employers who fail to meet new insurance requirements in the bill. Were the Senate Finance Committee (Baucus) bill reported the same way, its cost would have been $518 billion, rather than the widely reported figure of $829 billion.
Reporting the Pelosi bill costs the same way as all other bills have been reported, the real cost is $1.055 trillion. If the Medicare physician payment fix (believed to be almost a certainty) is included, the total is $1.3 trillion.
There are also other likely costs.
You didn’t really expect truth in labeling did you, John.
How much is it going to cost? A whole lot more than anybody is now projecting. Bank on it.
I would say it will cost two or three times as much as what they say it will cost.
It is amazing how backers of these bills use trickery and gimmicks to claim costs will be low. Back when we were small children we all learned that making a promise while crossing our fingers behind our backs is the same a lying? I don’t know how using trickery to claim a proposal costs $300 billion less than the actual cost is any different.