Freedom Line Blog

The government can’t manage to control the laws of economics like it used to.

No surprise here, but according to a new study released by the non-partisan Center for Medicare and Medicaid Studies, the House health care bill will increase health care costs by $289 billion in the next ten years.

As much as the White House talked about “bending the health care cost curve” downward, the House health care bill, H.R.3962, does the exact opposite.

For some reason the Administration can’t understand that more government spending on health care without commensurate gains in supply leads to health care inflation, driving up costs for all consumers.

Other highlights from the report:

By calendar year 2019, the mandates, coupled with the Medicaid expansion, would reduce the number of uninsured from 57 million, as projected under current law, to an estimated 23 million under H.R. 3962.

The estimated effects of H.R. 3962 on overall national health expenditures (NHE) are shown in table 5. In aggregate, we estimate that for calendar years 2010 through 2019 NHE would increase by $289 billion, or 0.8 percent, over the updated baseline projection that was released on June 29, 2009… The NHE share of GDP is projected to be 21.1 percent in 2019, compared to 20.8 percent under current law.

Public spending would increase under H.R. 3962 as a result of the expansion of the Medicaid program and other Medicaid changes, less the net Medicare savings under the bill. Private expenditures would be higher as well…

The New York Times has an interesting chart on the 39 Democrats who voted “No” on Speaker Pelosi’s version of health care “reform.”

The bill, H.R. 3962, passed 220 to 215 on Saturday night.

Click here for more on health care.

Someone in Congress really wants to keep their job.  Representative John Adler, a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, just announced that he will be voting against H.R. 3962, the government takeover of health care.

This comes as a bit of a surprise since rarely are New Jersey Democrats of the moderate “Blue Dog” variety.  Then again, President Obama won Adler’s district last year, but only with 52 percent of the vote.

Call Representative Adler at 202-225-4765 to thank him for standing up for taxpayers and freedom.  Or if you live in his district, you can reach his local offices at 856-985-2777 or 732-608-7235.

H.R. 3962, Speaker Pelosi’s attempt at a government takeover of health care weighs in at 1,990 pages.  However, there are a few reading guides available to save your eyes, and your sanity.

The House Republican Conference has done the dirty work and compiled a list of all the new boards, bureaucracies, commissions and programs created in the House health care bill.  There are over 111.  Here are a few highlights:

• Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111)

• Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138)

• Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155)

• “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321, p. 211)

• Ombudsman for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321(d), p. 213)

• Demonstration program providing reimbursement for “culturally and linguistically appropriate services” (Section 1222, p. 617)

• Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734)

• Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198)

• Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398)

• Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722)

• Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873)

The Hill, a Washington-area newspaper, has a handy whip count of House members who are undecided on Speaker Pelosi’s attempt to takeover your health care.  All of the members listed are Democrats but if you live in their district, please call 202-224-3121 and tell them to get off the fence and oppose ObamaCare.

If this ultra-liberal attempt at health care “reform” fails in the House, then it’s likely dead for the foreseeable future.  Let’s keep it that way.

Call your representative at 202-224-3131 and tell them to vote “No” on H.R. 3962.