White House pushes health care reform with more money

Once again, health care reform is heating up.  This time it will be all or nothing.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the President’s proposal will build from the Senate version, but with even more benefits and more taxes, and more costs paid for in large part by additional cost shifting to seniors, employers, corporations, individuals and of course to higher income Americans.   In case no one has noticed, we are setting up a vast new entitlement that will grow in cost far faster than inflation, will be tweaked endlessly by Congress and will eventually add to the Country’s fiscal woes.  No, I am not a Harvard or Stamford economist, but I have observed the past record of promises and costs from Congress and their reaction to both. I have seen what happened to the promises created by Medicare and Social Security and so have you, in short ever-increasing benefits and an ongoing failure to fund them adequately.  This will be no different and in a few years, the health care debate will begin anew, assuming we can afford to keep lights on at the Capital.  And remember, the federal govenrment “saving money” is not you saving money. [picapp align=”left” wrap=”false” link=”term=obama&iid=8018121″ src=”7/6/2/1/Harry_Reid_Joins_cc67.jpg?adImageId=10619070&imageId=8018121″ width=”380″ height=”267″ /] And don’t you forget, when you want to blame someone for health care problems, it’s those damn abusive insurance companies

WSJ:  The proposal would increase the value of the subsidies available to people to buy coverage. It increases aid to seniors buying prescription drugs through Medicare, and it increases funding for states to pay for expansion of the Medicaid program.

The changes will increase the cost of the Senate bill by about $75 billion, bringing the total price tag to about $950 billion, said Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House health reform office.

To make up for the lost revenue and pay for additional subsidies, the bill would apply the Medicare tax to unearned income for upper-income households and increase cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, private plans that serve some seniors. In addition, the higher penalties on businesses that don’t offer coverage and individuals who don’t carry it would raise money.

To pay for the additional Medicare drug benefit, the proposal would increase fees on brand-name drug companies by about $10 billion, above the fees on the drug industry already in the Senate bill.

blogsurfer.us