Surprise! Dept. of Health and Human Resources Reports that Obamacare Will Increase Costs

Care for a bit of light reading for a Friday evening?  Then check out the report issued yesterday by the Chief Actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Resources.  The report addresses the version of Obamacare that has been presented by Sen. Harry Reid as a complete amendment (i.e., a replacement for) H.R. 3590 (the so-called "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009").  In a development that should not come as a surprise to anyone who has given the matter any thought, the Chief Actuary tells us that the Reid version of Obamacare will increase the cost of health care over the period from 2010 to 2019 to the tune of $234 Billion (see page 4).  Egads.

Senators Reid and Baucus, among others, have been telling us that their version of Obamacare will save money.  The Chief Actuary's report puts the lie to these statements.  And the report also brings to light some other matters that Sen. Reid doesn't want us to know, including:

• Certain components of the plan would produce expenditures so far in excess of receipts that the programs would not be sustainable.
• Additional demand for health services under the expanded Medicare component of the plan could not be met in the short term.
• The proposed reductions in Medicare reimbursement rates would also not be sustainable.

The Chief Actuary's report comes on top of the latest CNN/Gallup polling data which shows that an astounding 61% of Americans are now opposed to Obamacare, and only 22% of poll respondents believe that their families will personally receive any benefit if Obamacare becomes law.

Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi need to abandon this mess now.

Opposition to Obamacare = Support for Slavery?

Yesterday on the floor of the United States Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that Republican opposition to Obamacare equates with opposition to the abolition of slavery during the 19th century.  I kid you not.  An excerpt from Reid's speech, as reported in The Boston Globe: 

"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all Republicans have come up with is this slow down, stop everything, let's start over," said Reid. "You think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, 'Slow down, it's too early. Let's wait. Things aren't bad enough.' When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted, 'Slow down, there will be a better day to do that. The day isn't quite right," Reid said on the Senate floor.

"When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today," he continued. "History is repeating itself before our eyes. There are now those who don't think it is the right time to reform health care. If not now, when, madam president? But the reality for many that feel that way, it will never, never be a good time to reform health care."

Sen. Reid failed to mention in his remarks that he has a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and that the Republican minority could not stop the Democratic majority from passing Obamacare if they presented a united front.  But they do not.  The reason Sen. Reid is attacking Republicans is because he cannot attack the members of his own party who refuse to go along with the creation of this massive government takeover of health care. 

Sen. Reid's comments are also interesting because, as so often has been the case, his own Democratic Party was the force behind the opposition to the historical initiatives to which he referred.  The Republican Party was formed in the 19th century primarily as an anti-slavery party in opposition to the pro-slavery Democratic Party.  The Republican Party was the first of the major parties to include a plank in its national platform in favor of universal women's suffrage, which it did all the way back in 1872.  And of course, our own Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd led the filibuster in the Senate that sought to stop passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In fact, Republicans, as a percentage of total membership in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, supported passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in far greater numbers than Democrats.  In the House, Republicans suppported passage by 80% to 20%, compared to only 63% to 37% among Democrats.  In the Senate, Republicans supported passage by 82% to 18%, compared to 69% to 31% by the Democrats.

The next time Sen. Reid resorts to history for support of his agenda, he might want to come up with some better examples.