Health Care News Guaranteed To Make You Sick

During the heated debate over Health Care, President Obama pledged to veto a reform bill with a price tag of $1 trillion or more because it would be too expensive. Democrats patted themselves on the back when they managed to keep the ten-year cost figure at $940 billion. They based the number on the Congressional Budget Office's gross cost estimate in March before the passage of the reform bill. The net cost estimate was $788 billion. Now the other shoe has dropped and Democrats are doing some serious backpedaling.

On Tuesday, the CBO revisited its estimates in response to a request from California Rep. Jerry Lewis. After more study, the CBO tacked on another $115 billion in discretionary spending over ten years, sending the cost of the Health Care Reform bill soaring into the stratosphere. The overhaul now will likely exceed $1 trillion. Remember this is only a guess. In nearly all cases where long term projections are required, the CBO has a lousy track record. It usually underestimates the expenditures by wide margins.

Now Democrats are trying to bury the $1 trillion figure under a mound of political double talk. Some preached the mantra of deficit reduction when the reforms are implemented. This argument holds that the higher the health care reform price tag the bigger the reduction in bloated federal spending. Only someone with absolutely no understanding of a budget would fall for that one. Other Democrats trotted out the argument that since many programs in the bill are discretionary, the funds won't necessarily have to be spent. That is just a cover up. Of course, the money will be spent. Check to find out the last time Congress failed to fund any entitlement program. Never has happened.

Health Care Reform, already a burning issue in Congressional elections, just became a blazing hot iron that can be used to brand Democrats as big spenders intent on saddling the voters with a mountain of debt. Months ago the Democrats scrapped their strategy of touting Health Care Reform passage in the wake of polls that showed how deeply unpopular the bill was with the public. Republicans should hang the $1 trillion price tag around the neck of every Democrat running for election.

Meanwhile, a federal district judge in Florida has promised to fast track the legal challenges filed by 18 states, claiming the Health Care Reform bill is unconstitutional. The challengers pinpointed the the reform provision that mandates individuals must purchase health care insurance beginning in 2014. Hearings are expected to begin in November at the earliest. The Justice Department, which will defend the bill, can be counted on to delay any proceedings until after the November elections.

Amongst all the legal and political wrangling, the clock is ticking on tax changes scheduled to soon begin hitting the pockets of Americans. There are 16 tax changes related to health insurance that are scheduled to be implemented from January 1, 2011 through 2020. Not all taxes, such as increases in Medicare taxes, are assessed directly on individuals. But the tab for billions of dollars in new fees to be imposed on pharmaceutical manufacturers and health insurance firms will be passed through to consumers in the form of higher charges. Only someone in government can't figure out that every dollar a business gets comes from a consumer or another firm. Unlike the federal government, businesses cannot simply print money to pay higher fees imposed by the legislation.

Democrats tried to shield themselves from an angry public by fashioning Health Care Reform in a way that delays taxes until after November's elections. No doubt the party thought it was a clever move. However, as the elections draw nearer, it is becoming clearer that Democrats are only fooling themselves. Health Care Reform is an albatross that will send many elected Democrats into an early retirement.