CBO: Obamacare Would Increase National Debt, Spend Medicare 'Savings'

Originally Posted At WeeklyStandard.com
By Jeffrey H. Anderson
January 19, 2011

In the congressional floor debate leading up to the repeal vote, Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) highlighted a point that has generally gone under the radar: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that Obamacare would increase the national debt. The CBO writes that, by the end of 2019 alone, Obamacare "would amount to a net increase in federal deficits of $226 billion." Elsewhere, in a conclusion that only the truly credulous could accept, the CBO says that Obamacare would decrease deficits. But, as the CBO notes, that's before "factoring in that the [Medicare Hospital Insurance] trust fund would hold more than $358 billion of additional government debt by the end of 2019 compared with its holdings under current law."

But at least Obamacare provides Medicare "savings" that would help fund Medicare over the long-term, right? Presumably that is what Andy Griffith is referring to when he tells us -- in the taxpayer-funded commercials that the Obama administration aims at seniors -- that, under Obamacare, "Medicare just got stronger!" Unfortunately, the CBO writes, "the majority of the [Medicare Hospital Insurance] trust fund savings under PPACA [Obamacare] would be used to pay for other spending and therefore would not enhance the ability of the government to pay for future Medicare benefits." In other words, the money "saved" from Medicare would be spent elsewhere: on Obamacare.

As the website for the House Budget Committee (which Ryan chairs) notes, the $226 billion in projected debt spending doesn't include "the $115 billion needed to implement the law." (That figure of $115 billion is provided by the CBO as well.) So, $115 billion plus $226 billion equals $341 billion that Obamacare would add to the national debt by the end of 2019. 

But, really, that's just the beginning. Alluding to the whole range of Obamacare's double-counting and budgetary gimmickry, the House Budget Committee writes, "Add it up -- $115 billion in discretionary costs, plus $521 billion in double-counting, plus $208 billion for a long-term doc fix (minus the $143 billion of claimed savings) -- and the law would add $701 billion to the deficit over the next ten years." (For a clear and succinct summary of the budgetary gimmicks employed by Obamacare, Ryan's statement at the "health summit" is hard to beat.)

However, even that doesn't take into account the fact that the CBO sounds very skeptical that much of the Medicare "savings" needed to fund Obamacare would ever materialize. And it doesn't take into account the very real potential for exploding deficit spending if more companies than expected drop their employer-provided coverage and dump their employees into Obamacare's government-run, taxpayer-financed "exchanges."

But let's go back to the published CBO estimates. Even under about the rosiest of projections, the CBO says that, before the beginning of the next decade, Obamacare -- if not repealed -- would increase the national debt by $341 billion.

  

Urgent Petition

Sign the petition to stop Social Security Cuts and send a fax to every Member of Congress demanding they cut other spending, NOT SOCIAL SECURITY.
First Name

Last Name

Phone Number

Email

Recent News

Senior poverty is much worse than you think

Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Source: WashingtonPost.com
If you’re an unmarried senior with no dependents, make $15,000 a year, and spend $10,000 of it on medical care, under the official poverty measure you’d most likely not count as poor, as $15,000 is above the 2012 poverty threshold for a single senior ($11,011).
Read Full Story

Medicare Drug Program Senior Health Risk

Sunday, May 12, 2013
Source: Huffington Post
An analysis of four years of Medicare prescription records shows that some doctors and other health professionals across the country prescribe large quantities of drugs that are potentially harmful, disorienting or addictive. Federal officials have done little to detect or deter these hazardous prescribing patterns.
Read Full Story

GOP's Duffy & Gingrey Oppose Social Security Cut

Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Source: Huffington Post
Two House Republicans have told constituents they oppose proposed cuts to Social Security and veterans benefits by reducing the cost of living adjustment. President Barack Obama included the plan, known as chained CPI, in his annual budget.
Read Full Story

Diabetes Advice for the Elderly: Relax

Friday, April 26, 2013
Source: New York Times
Treatments and their risks and benefits play out differently in the elderly population. Diabetes is rarely the only ailment affecting people in their 70s and 80s; most must cope with several chronic conditions, along with their associated medications. That makes keeping blood sugar at reasonable levels a complicated business involving lots of tradeoffs.
Read Full Story

5 Common Misconceptions That Destroy Computers

Thursday, April 11, 2013
Source: Cracked.com
If you have a parent, grandparent, or child just getting into computers for the first time, do the world a favor and teach them these basic misconceptions before you end up getting the call to come over and clean the horse manure out of their processor.
Read Full Story

Salt In The Rationing Wounds

Sunday, April 21, 2013
Source: Land Destroyer Report
The US has announced that it will provide militants in Syria, now openly admitted to being Al Qaeda terrorists, with $123 million in military aid - while cancer care for seniors at home is being rationed.
Read Full Story

He Lied

Friday, April 12, 2013
Source: Huffington Post
(VIDEO) Obama vowed he would never cut Social Security.  Now he is proposing a change in the cost-of-living measure (the so-called "Chained CPI") to do just that, all the while he denies it will cut benefits for current retirees. 
Read Full Story

Oppose Tax Increases To Prevent Social Secutrity Cuts

Source: 
With Obama pushing for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the best chance of stopping those spending reductions could be the GOP’s blanket opposition to higher taxes. Although GOP leaders insist that entitlement cuts should be a big part of any sweeping deficit deal, they also have been unwilling to concede to Obama’s demand for higher taxes to get them, which could be a deal killer.
Read Full Story

Obama Ready To Cut Social Security

Friday, April 5, 2013
Source: The Hill
President Obama will propose cuts next week to Social Security and other entitlements as part of a renewed effort to strike a long-term deficit-reduction deal with Republicans, the White House said Friday. Obama will embrace a plan — known as chained CPI — that would reduce cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients through a more restrictive measure of inflation, according to officials first cited by Reuters and The New York Times.
Read Full Story

Congresswoman Mocks Senior Citizen

Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Source: Breitbart TV
At a recent Denver Post editorial board public forum on gun legislation, U.S. Rep Diana DeGette was asked by a male senor citizen how he could defend himself under the new Colorado gun laws. DeGette said, “The good news for you, you live in Denver. The Denver PD would be there within minutes. (laughing) You’d probably be dead anyway.”
Read Full Story
Read All Recent News

Get in the Know Now
Get SSI Email Alerts

First
Last
Zip Code
*Email

Social Networks

 

Action Center