Tag Archives: budget deficit

Health Alerts

Health Care and the Budget Deal: Three Steps Forward, One Step Back

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debt

(A version of this Health Alert was published by Forbes.)

Yesterday, the White House and Congressional leaders announced a last-minute budget agreement that avoids a so-called government shut-down for now. The deal has four health-related items, and is expected to reduce net federal health spending by about $4.5 billion over five years, and $15.5 billion over ten years. Overall, it is not a bad deal with respect to health care. However, some of its budget savings are fragile and it largely avoids reforms that will actually reduce the growth of health spending. Continue reading Health Care and the Budget Deal: Three Steps Forward, One Step Back →

Policy Updates

House & Senate Agree on Balanced Budget Resolution

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The House and Senate Budget Committees have announced that their conference committee has agreed on a balanced budget resolution. The conference report is 106 pages, so it will take me a few days to complete an analysis.

Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that this is an important achievement and the result of a lot of hard work by Dr. Price, Senator Enzi, their colleagues and staff. For many years, the Senate ignored its legal obligation to pass a budget.

With respect to health care, the resolution repeals and replaces Obamacare in full. It also continues to increase Medicare premiums for high-income households, and transitions to Paul Ryan’s “premium support” model for future beneficiaries.

One of the items I had been hoping for is offsets to pay for the bungled Medicare “doc fix” of last month. The resolution states that it accounts for the full cost of that “doc fix” (page 45). Okay, but the current president will not sign this budget. Are we meant to expect that the next President will take responsibility for the unfunded spending authority this Congress gave President Obama?

Interesting Links

Hits & Misses – 2009/8/11

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The Congressional Budget Office answer to federal deficits is a laundry list of middle class tax hikes. 

Obama to email list: Bypass town hall meetings and go straight to you Congress member's office.

New stimulus plan: Congress buys eight $70 million luxury jets so members won't have to fly with ordinary folks.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4FOiVM4bQc

"She had fun, fun, fun ‘til her daddy took her T-Bird away."

Health Insurance

New Gallup Poll Results

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The following are key findings from Gallup surveys:

  1. Most Americans do not believe that the U.S. healthcare system is in a state of crisis.
  2. Americans are not convinced that healthcare reform will benefit them personally.
  3. Americans do not believe that healthcare reform would lessen costs — neither for the system as a whole nor for individuals.
  4. The push for healthcare reform is occurring in an environment characterized by high levels of concern about fiscal responsibility, government spending, and the growing federal deficit.
  5. Americans have relatively little confidence in Congress and thus, by inference, little confidence that Congress can effectively and efficiently reform the country's massive healthcare system.