CBO analysis of Kennedy health reform bill
may be more costly than anticipated
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has voiced concerns over the first of the health care reform proposals. In a letter addressed to Senator Ted Kennedy , the CBO apparently concluded that the bill called the Affordable Health Choices Act would cost the taxpayers 1 trillion dollars over the next ten years.
More importantly, the CBO analysis showed that this proposal would only add about 16 million Americans to the ranks of the insured, still leaving 30+ million uninsured.
The bill which is also known as the Kennedy Health Bill sent out a draft of the proposal last week. The bill is the work of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and pensions (HELP). Senator Kennedy is the Chairman of HELP.
The CBO analysis also finds that the increase in the number of Americans having health insurance would be offset by the decline in the number of American who currently have health insurance through employer groups. The CBO estimates that 15 million Americans would lose their employer sponsored health insurance and those with individual coverage would decline by about 8 million.
Calculating all these projections together, the net increase in Americans having health insurance is only 16 or 17 million.
There is nothing in the current bill on how to pay for the plan. There is no mention of a “public plan” or any discussion as to the fate of employer sponsored health insurance. As these things are added to the bill, the price tag already at a trillion dollars will only go up.
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