Research Briefing

Will Senate Finance Committee Dems Vote To Burden Americans With Higher Premiums, Taxes & Deficits?

SENATE FINANCE DEMS’ BILL WILL RAISE AMERICAN FAMILIES’ HEALTH CARE COSTS BY $4000

Senate Finance Dems’ Health Care Experiment Will Raise American Families’ Premiums By $4,000 Over Next Decade. “[B]y 2019 the cost of single coverage is expected to increase by $1,500 more than it would under the current system and the cost of family coverage is expected to increase by $4,000 more than it would under the current system. This amounts to an 18 percent increase in premiums by 2019.” (PricewaterhouseCoopers, “Potential Impact Of Health Reform On The Cost Of Private Health Insurance Coverage,” 10/11/09)

Because Bill Paid For By Cutting $404 Billion From Medicare And Medicaid, Shifting Costs To American Consumers. “[T]he health reform bill being proposed by the Senate Finance Committee as introduced … include[s]: Cuts in payment rates in public programs that could increase cost shifting to private sector businesses and consumers. These changes are expected to more than offset the potential reduction in cost shifting resulting from providing coverage to the uninsured.” (Congressional Budget Office, “Letter to Chairman Max Baucus,” 10/7/09; PricewaterhouseCoopers, “Potential Impact Of Health Reform On The Cost Of Private Health Insurance Coverage,” 10/11/09)

And Hitting Americans With $506 Billion In New Health Care Taxes And Fees Over Next 10 Years. “[T]he health reform bill being proposed by the Senate Finance Committee as introduced … include[s]: An excise tax on employer-sponsored high value health plans (or ‘Cadillac plans’) that in a few years could also raise premiums for some moderate value plans … New taxes on health sector entities that are likely to be passed through to consumers.” (Congressional Budget Office, “Letter to Chairman Max Baucus,” 10/7/09; PricewaterhouseCoopers, “Potential Impact Of Health Reform On The Cost Of Private Health Insurance Coverage,” 10/11/09)

While Hiding Other Costs That Will Eventually Lead To Billions In Deficits Shouldered By American Taxpayers. “The Senate Finance Committee’s health-reform bill is fully paid for, according to the Congressional Budget Office; in fact, the CBO says, it would save $81 billion in the first 10 years. The House version of health reform, by contrast, would add $239 billion to the deficit over that period. So the Senate bill is more fiscally responsible, right? Not exactly. The cost difference stems from the fact that the House measure is honest enough to include the full 10-year cost of the so-called ‘doc fix’ -- $245 billion to reverse scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to physicians -- although not fiscally responsible enough to pay for it. The Senate just patches the problem for one year and pretends that doctors take a 25 percent cut in reimbursements the following year and then stay at that low level forever. No one believes that will happen, so the money is going to have to be scrounged up later or else add more to the deficit.” (Editorial, “A Shell Game For Disguising Health Reform Costs,” The Washington Post, 10/10/09)

VOTING FOR THE BILL WILL MEAN VOTING TO LET REID MAKE IT EVEN WORSE

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) To Hide In His Office To Write Final Version Of Health Care Experiment With White House. “It’s the invite that every senator with an opinion on health care wants to get: a reserved seat at the conference table where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will merge two competing reform bills. But most of them won’t get in. Reid’s guest list will be an exclusive one. Reid has decided to keep the group intimate, limiting entree to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who ushered the bill through the Senate health committee … The merger, which will unfold across Reid’s suite of offices, should take a week, sources said. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, White House Director of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle and perhaps budget director Peter Orszag will represent the president, sources said.” (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Members Jockey For Seat At Reid’s Table,” Politico, 10/7/09)

Merging Senate Finance Dems’ Health Care Taxes, Medicare Cuts With “More Liberal Bill” From Senate HELP Dems. “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada will attempt -- with input from the White House -- to reconcile the Finance Committee bill with a more liberal bill passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Provisions of the Finance bill are expected to remain largely intact because it addresses revenues and taxes in a way the other bill does not.” (Kim Geiger, “About Tuesday’s Healthcare Vote, And What Comes Next,” The Los Angeles Times, 10/11/09)

And Promising To Include “Public Option” That Could Mean Over 88 Million Americans Losing Current Coverage. “U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today there will be a ‘public option’ in whatever health insurance reform bill comes out of Congress. ‘We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president’s desk,’ Reid said in a conference call with constituents, referring to some kind of government plan;” “Under current law, there will be about 158.1 million people who are covered under an employer plan as workers, dependents or early retirees in 2011. If the act were fully implemented in that year, about 88.1 million workers would shift from private employer insurance to the public plan.” (Benjamin Spillman, “Reid: Final Health Bill Will Have ‘Public Option,’” The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/1/09; John Shelis, Vice President, Lewin Group, “Analysis Of The July 15 Draft Of The American Affordable Health Choices Act Of 2009,” 7/17/09)