Financing Health Reform: The American People Aren't Going to Like This

by Carolyn Austin

The following charts from the Tax Foundation give a nice overview of what Congress and the Senate are currently serving up, financially speaking, for health reform.

Table 1 looks at financing proposals for the health care plans in Congress (H.R. 3962 valued at $1.055 trillion by the CBO) and in the Senate (Max Baucus Senate Finance Committee plan valued at $829 billion by the CBO).

Where does most of the financing come from? Cuts to Medicare and new taxes. Neither of these is going to sit well with the American people.

And then there’s the deficit reduction “category,” which some observers are calling out as a Social Security tax hike.

Looks like we are in for a serious case of indigestion.

Comments

[Michael Clark:]

Why not just let the financial companies pay for universal health-care with the bonuses they are paying to the ne'er-do-wells who sank the global economy? Maybe we can make a deal with Goldman Sachs: they can keep making their dirty profits, if they pay for Americans' health-care. Do you think they'll go for it?

Nov 13 04:28 AM