Killer audit: House bill will increase health care spending by $750 billion

October 21, 9:23 PMDC Republican ExaminerBill Dupray

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But, but I thought ObamaCare was going to cut health care costs, or at very least everybody would get a pony out of the deal. Turns out, no savings and no ponies.

From The Hill.

A healthcare reform bill approved by a House committee in July would increase national spending on healthcare by 2.1 percent over 10 years, according to federal auditors.

That increase, amounting to $750 billion, would largely be the result of increased demand for healthcare services because 34 million people would have health coverage, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Office of the Actuary, an independent entity within the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Moreover, the reduced Medicare spending in the bill “would not have a significant impact on future health care cost growth rates,” the actuaries concluded, expressing skepticism that medical providers could continue serving Medicare and Medicaid patients at lower payment rates and leading Congress to rescind the cuts.

In addition, other reforms intended to contain costs, such as promoting prevention and wellness, would have a “negligible financial impact,” the report says.

Note the comment about how cutting Medicare and Medicaid payments would cause health care providers to stop providing services. No kidding. Doctors and hospitals aren't indentured servants of the federal government (yet), so they naturally will look at their bottom lines, decide that government health care is not profitable, and drop out. This can only lead to one of two results; either Congress cuts Medicare/Medicaid and fewer people receive care (not exactly moving in the right direction for universal coverage) or don't cut the benefits and throw all those tax dollars on top of the debt pile.

And the money quote.

“We estimate that the provisions of H.R. 3200 that were designed, in part, to reduce the rate of growth in health care costs would have a relatively small savings impact,” says the report, signed by CMS Chief Actuary Richard Foster, a career federal employee who has held that post since 1995.

Let's see how the Blue Dogs like this one.