06.13.11

FACT CHECK: OBAMACARE AND THE DEFICIT

Democrats used budget gimmicks to manipulate the CBO score of Obamacare.

The truth: It adds nearly $700 billion to the deficit in the first ten years alone.

The Gimmicks:

• Counting a full ten years of tax increases to pay for only six years of new health care spending. Imaginary savings from Democrats, but deficits in the real world.

• Double-counting $398 billion in Medicare cuts. Democrats count it both as money to extend the life of Medicare and as money to pay for a new health care entitlement. $2 spent for every $1 “saved.”

• Concealing the cost of the so-called doc fix, which prevents cuts in Medicare payments to physicians—totaling $208 billion over ten years. It cheats the doctors or it cheats the taxpayers.

• Spending $29 billion in Social Security payroll taxes, even though those dollars should be used for Social Security benefits. It’s a fiscal shell game.

• Ignoring $115 billion in costs to implement the bill, including new personnel. CBO doesn’t count the cost of new bureaucrats to implement the law, but you’ll still be picking up the tab.

• Counting $19 billion in savings from unrelated student loan reforms as health care savings. One more way to mask Obamacare’s true cost.

The Hidden Costs:

• You could lose your health plan: Estimates from the Dept. of Health and Human Services show that 39% to 69% of Americans may lose the existing health plan they receive from their employer.

• Higher premiums: CBO concludes that the new health law increases health insurance premiums of plans purchased in the individual market by an average of $2,100 per family, breaking President Obama’s promise to reduce health care premiums by $2,500 per family.

• 750,000 fewer jobs, based on CBO estimates.

Americans see through Washington budget gimmicks: they know Obamacare is a big-government program that will burden our children with trillions in debt.

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