The True Cost of the Health Care Bill

Recently someone in the administration stated that accounting was not an exact science. Excuse me, it most certainly is an exact science – at least it is out here in the real world. Apparently in Washington it is not. The Senate’s new health care bill is a fine example of this.

It was announced that over ten years it would cost 849 billion dollars and would have a surplus of 127 billion dollars. This sounds good until you observe the creative accounting tricks that are used. The rules of mathematics are suspended in Washington. One does not have to equal one. It can equal anything that politicians desire. Mathematical facts are deliberately obscured in this new health care bill.

The bill is paid for by over 400 billion dollars in cuts in Medicare. Old people are not popular in Washington. Old people will remember this in the next elections. At some point politicians may decide that it is against their interest to make these cuts. The bill is also paid for by taxes, fines and fees. Do you remember that there is a recession going on in this country? Individuals and companies can not afford more taxes.

This bill is paid for by taxing Americans and slashing Medicare for ten years. The benefits are received for only six years – some parts for less than that. A true cost analysis should be for ten years of payment and ten years of program. It has been estimated that ten years of the program would cost 2.5 trillion dollars. Let’s stop comparing apples and oranges.

This bill does not address the doctor fix. This will cost an additional 250 – 300 billion dollars. Oops, there goes the surplus.

This bill applies another accounting trick. This bill greatly increases the number of people on Medicaid. The federal government only pays about half the costs of Medicaid. States are required to pay the rest. This is an unfunded state mandate. The public will have to pay higher taxes at the federal level and pay for it again at the state level.

Can we not at least be honest about what this bill will actually cost? Congress needs to stop trying to fool the public. This is a BAD bill. Please don’t vote for it.

Signed,
The Electorate