Can New Yorkers Trust Gillibrand On Health Care?

Tuesday, 16 June 2009 12:41

WASHINGTON – In the wake of a new report issued today citing a number of pork barrel spending projects and lack of proper oversight resulting from the massive “stimulus” bill earlier this year, Congressional Democrats are looking to spend another $1 trillion over the next ten years to fund their enormous new government-run health care proposal.

As reported by the Associated Press, “A leading health care bill under consideration in Congress would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade…” And as ABC News highlighted, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) guesstimates that “millions… would lose their current employer-provided health insurance – up to ten percent. This will not go down well with the President and Democrats’ promise that under any healthcare reform, ‘if you have something you like, you keep it.’”

The CBO’s non-partisan health care study was announced just one day before U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) released a new report citing a number of excessive pork barrel spending projects and lack of proper oversight for taxpayer dollars as a result of the Democrats’ massive stimulus bill, which was sped through Congress earlier this year.

“Repairs for rural bridges, an under-highway safe crossing for turtles and efforts to protect the sage grouse population are among 100 projects a Republican senator pointed to Monday as questionable federal stimulus spending,’” according to the Associated Press.

“After the debacle resulting from the Democrats’ enormous stimulus bill, how will Senator Gillibrand and Congressional Democrats ensure that Americans are not left paying for more massive amounts of government waste in the form of Washington-run healthcare?” asked National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson.

“Republicans agree that we need to have a thorough, bipartisan debate surrounding much-needed health care reform, but Americans deserve better than the Washington takeover that the Democrats are proposing, which would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next ten years while still leaving millions of Americans without insurance,” Wilkerson concluded.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Politico: A health care reform bill proposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy’s committee would cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years while still leaving millions of people uninsured, according to a preliminary estimate released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office.

New York Times: But as the president spoke at the annual conference of the American Medical Association in Chicago, it became clear that one of the major health plans on the table would cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years yet leave tens of millions of people uninsured.

Los Angeles Times: The challenges of advancing major healthcare legislation were underscored Monday by a preliminary report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated that the first major Democratic health bill -- prepared by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) – could cost about $1 trillion over the next decade, while covering only about 16 million more people. There are more than 46 million people in America without health coverage. The office also estimated, in a six-page letter to Kennedy, that the number of people getting healthcare from their employer would decline by about 10%, or 15 million individuals, as people switched to a new insurance exchange.

Chicago Tribune: Further complicating the bill’s prospects, the CBO, which is charged with assessing the cost and impact of proposed legislation, also estimated that the number of people getting health care from their employers would decline by about 10 percent, or 15 million individuals, as people switched to a new public insurance system…But the letter is fueling GOP charges that the changes being pushed by Democrats would undermine the existing employer-based health-care system.

Reuters: U.S. Senate panel proposal to expand healthcare coverage would increase the federal deficit by about $1 trillion over 10 years and still leave millions without insurance, a congressional analysis said on Monday.

Associated Press: A leading health care bill under consideration in Congress would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals, congressional budget officials said Monday in a preliminary estimate.

Bloomberg: Senator Edward Kennedy’s plan to expand health-care coverage would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years and provide coverage to about 16 million more people, according to a preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

Dow Jones: A preliminary analysis released Monday shows a $1 trillion cost for health-care legislation sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D- Mass, while a net 16 million people in the U.S. would obtain insurance coverage as a result of the bill.

ABC News: How much will the Senate Health Committee’s healthcare plan cost? $1 trillion over 10 years. Ballpark. That’s the approximation from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Their report and a letter sent tonight to Sen. Kennedy and the HELP committee is here. CBO also estimates that while millions of uninsured Americans would gain health insurance through the plan, they guesstimate that millions of other would lose their current employer-provided health insurance – up to ten percent. This will not go down well with the President and Democrats’ promise that under any healthcare reform, “if you have something you like, you keep it.”

Fox Business: The Congressional Budget Office's first cost estimate on an early health-care reform bill didn't exactly roll out the red carpet for President Obama’s efforts in that arena.
The initial estimate -- for parts of a comprehensive reform plan drafted by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) -- would spend $1 trillion over 10 years but end up reducing the number of uninsured people in the U.S. by around than a third, providing just 16 million more people with health insurance.