Even the CBO had hedged their estimates. The Director of the CBO acknoweldged as much in is own blog...... As a result, we believe that CBOâs estimates of the net savings that would result from the legislation have a roughly equal chance of turning out to be too high or too low. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Focusing on another area of concern, some observers argue that CBOâs estimates are unrealistic because the Congress will not allow the Medicare spending cuts and future tax increases in the proposals to take effect. CBOâs responsibility to the Congress is to estimate the effects of proposals as written and not to forecast future legislation. However, the agency does try to provide information about the consequences of implementing proposals. For example, our cost estimate for the bill taken up by the Senate in December and our estimate for the House bill last October noted that inflation-adjusted Medicare spending per beneficiary would slow sharply under those proposals. We estimated that growth in such spending under the Senate bill would drop from about 4 percent per year for the past two decades to roughly 2 percent per year for the next two decades; whether such a reduction could be achieved through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care is unclear. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As we reported yesterday, budget deficits would be reduced, in our estimation, if the reconciliation proposal and Senate-passed health bill are enacted and remain unchanged throughout the next two decades. However, the legislation would maintain and put into effect a number of provisions that might be difficult to sustain over a long period of time. Whether any of its provisionsâand if so, which onesâmight be changed in the future is not for CBO to judge. Lastly, I would note that the original estimates for the cost of Medicare was off by a mile. http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=524
You know who I'd like to ask regarding health care reform, Rick Wagnor former CEO of GM. I'm sure he is the one who said he runs a health care operation with a side business of auto manufacturing. If he said, "This bill is what America needs", all would be fine with me.
No conditions from your malpractice insurance company? So it would be okay with your insurer if you gave a refund to a patient because you had a bad day and made a mistake? You can freely admit to the patient when you are wrong and caused them harm? Your malpractice insurance company wouldn't have a problem with that?
That's not the problem , the problem is if every pt assumes the optimal outcome is the norm. Reality does not work that way nevertheless some people expect it and medical workers have to protect themselves. That insurance costs money & time.
So doctors are free to admit when they are wrong, had a bad day, had a hangover, give a refund of fees for lousy service, etc. and the malpractice companies don't have a problem with that...
Sure Md's are currently free to leave practice if they wish, not so sure under obamacare once it gets going.
I worked at GM prior to trading - back in the 80's and early 90's. The UAW demanded the best in terms of health care benefits. Yet so many of those working in the plants were perfect examples of WHY the cost of health care is so high. Many were out of shape, obese, had poor eating habits, smoked, drank more than they should have. Exercise for many was clearly not something they engaged in. But with their CADILLAC health care plans they could run to the doctor for every sniffle and their out of pocket cost was next to nothing. People who take care of themselves are often the entrepreneurial types, including traders. Why? They know the cost of doctors visits is coming out of their own pockets, thus they do the right things to maximize their health. I'm not meaning to paint all union employees as fat and in poor health but in my 15 years there I saw many who were. Bottom line is when people have cadillac plans they don't care as much about costs as it's not their own $$$. Yet these plans are nopt not being taxed until 2018 and they've moved the thresholds even higher. On the other hand if I make good $$ trading I'll pay another 3.8% to fund these "entitlement" programs. Significantly expanding Medicaid - a program that is full of problems and fraud - will only create a larger national deficit.