Senate Finance Healthcare Proposal Could Result in Smaller Deficits, Report Finds
Senate Finance Healthcare Proposal Could Result in Smaller Deficits, Report Finds
The America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 passed by the Senate Finance Committee could result in slightly smaller deficits if the bill is implemented as intended and remains unchanged, a new study by the Lewin Group finds.
Funded by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the report, Long-Term Cost of the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009; As Passed by the Senate Finance Committee (58 pages, PDF), confirms the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the bill, which found that new revenues and savings under the bill would exceed new spending. However, while gains in coverage would be almost immediate, the financial burden of paying for that coverage would build over time, raising questions about whether the financing measures in the bill would be fully implemented and left unchanged.
The report found that the legislation, once enacted and assuming its provisions are left in place, would achieve deficit neutrality during the first ten years, would maintain deficit neutrality after that point, and would make meaningful progress toward slowing the rate of growth in Medicare costs. The bill would not reduce healthcare spending as a percentage of the economy, however. To bring healthcare costs under control, the report argues that policy makers must do more to strengthen incentives and promote greater transparency throughout the healthcare system.
"The Senate Finance Committee bill does the best job out of all the current healthcare reform bills from a fiscal perspective," said Peterson Foundation president and CEO David M. Walker. "However, it does not meet the foundation's four tests for a fiscally responsible healthcare bill, and it relies on certain cost containment approaches that have not worked in the past. Stronger budget controls and more dramatic healthcare reforms will be necessary to put the system on a more prudent and sustainable path."
“Peter G. Peterson Foundation Releases New Health Care Reform Study.”
Peter G. Peterson Foundation Press Release
10/30/09.
Primary Subject: Health
Secondary Subject(s): Public Affairs
Location(s): National
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