Download the Politics Daily Toolbar
Our new toolbar integrates the latest news and analysis into your Web browser and installs in seconds. Download it now!

Politics DailyPolitics Daily

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COLUMNISTS
  • TOPICS
  • THE CAPITOLIST
  • WOMAN UP
  • DAILY FLOTUS
  • JUST IN
  • THE CRAM
  • CONTACT
  • Inside Politics Daily

    Budget Chief: Health Care Bills Bad for Economy

    Posted:
    07/17/09
    In a devastating blow to the Obama administration's efforts to pass health care reform, the director of the Congressional Budget Office testified yesterday that the health care reform bills moving through the House and Senate will not reduce the cost of health care and are so expensive for the federal government they will actually weaken the economy.

    Doug Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee that if Congress does nothing to curb the current cost of health care and increase federal revenues, budget deficits will "cause substantial harm to the economy."

    However, he said, the health care reform bills moving through Congress would do the opposite. "And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs." He went on to say that the increase in federal spending would worsen federal deficits and weaken the overall economy.

    When the committee chairman, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), asked if the reforms being considered by Congress would at least "bend the curve," or reduce overall health care costs, Elmendorf said, "The curve is being raised."

    A key way to raise revenue to pay for health care costs, he said, would be treating employee health care benefits as income and taxing them accordingly.

    Although the White House has endorsed raising taxes on high income earners, Obama has refused to consider taxing health benefits. When when asked about Elmendorf's tax idea, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggested that Elmendorf ought to try running for Congress sometime.

    A piece of good news for the administration came late yesterday when the American Medical Association endorsed the House version of the bill, writing in a letter to the president, "We are committed to passing health reform this year consistent with principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of practice, and universal access for patients."
    Get the new
    PD toolbar!



    Follow PoliticsDaily On Facebook and Twitter,
    and download the new Politics Daily toolbar!

    Patricia Murphy

    Patricia Murphy writes "The Capitolist" column for PoliticsDaily.com. She is the founder of Citizen Jane Politics, a non-partisan website for women... more

    Contact Patricia Murphy

    subscribe to: RSS email: Patricia Murphy

    Related Articles

    Related Articles

    Add your comments

    Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

    When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

    To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

    Avoid hate speech, foul language or a disrespectful tone in your comments. Unwanted comments will be deleted at the discretion of the moderator.

    • Happening Right Now

       
    Politics Daily on Facebook

    Other News