1 + 1 = 5?
According to University of Chicago economist Jon R. Gabel, over the past 30 years, the Congressional Budget Office has traditionally underestimated the savings Medicare tweaks would produce. In fact, they were off by billions. As a result, lawmakers work in the dark when they’re formulating new legislation, including the various health care reform bills now on the table.
This, from his op-ed piece in the New York Times:
“By underestimating the savings that can come from improved Medicare payment procedures and other cost-control initiatives, the budget office leads Congress to think that politically unpopular cost-cutting initiatives will have, at best, only modest effects. This, in turn, forces Congress to believe it can pay for reform only by raising taxes, which then makes reform legislation more difficult to pass.”
For the full story, go to:
Congress’s Health Care Numbers Don’t Add Up
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/opinion/26gabel.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Gabel&st=cse
This, from his op-ed piece in the New York Times:
“By underestimating the savings that can come from improved Medicare payment procedures and other cost-control initiatives, the budget office leads Congress to think that politically unpopular cost-cutting initiatives will have, at best, only modest effects. This, in turn, forces Congress to believe it can pay for reform only by raising taxes, which then makes reform legislation more difficult to pass.”
For the full story, go to:
Congress’s Health Care Numbers Don’t Add Up
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/opinion/26gabel.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Gabel&st=cse
