“CBO: Health repeal would cost $230B - Philadelphia Daily News” plus 1 more |
| CBO: Health repeal would cost $230B - Philadelphia Daily News Posted: 07 Jan 2011 11:59 PM PST Posted on Fri, Jan. 7, 2011 By Noam N. Levey WASHINGTON - The Republican plan to repeal the health-care law would drive up federal deficits by $230 billion by 2021, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday, undercutting GOP efforts to seize the mantle of fiscal responsibility. Overturning the law President Obama signed in March would also leave tens of millions more Americans without health coverage, the analysts concluded. Although health-insurance premiums would be lower in some cases, the analysts estimated that without the law, consumers would get skimpier coverage and many would pay more because they would lose insurance subsidies included in the new law. House Republican leaders quickly dismissed the new projection from the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, as unrealistic. "CBO is entitled to their opinion," House Speaker John A. Boehner (R., Ohio) said. "I do not believe that repealing the job-killing health-care law will increase the deficit." The CBO, an agency that lawmakers from both parties have historically relied on, is widely considered one of the most important independent sources of information about the impact of proposed legislation. Its estimate underscored the cost of repealing the health law at a time when millions of Americans have been losing health benefits and insurers are increasing premiums. In a letter to Boehner, budget office director Douglas Elmendorf estimated that repeal would increase the deficit from 2012 to 2021, the 10-year estimating period for budget projections, and that 32 million more people would be uninsured in 2019 as a result, for a total of 54 million. The budget director's verdict gave Democrats a new line of counterattack against Republicans elected on a promise to cut government debt. Until now, the main Democratic argument has been that repealing the law would eliminate benefits people already are receiving, including seniors who are getting help with high drug costs, young adults who can stay on their parents' coverage, and those in poor health who now cannot be denied coverage. "We can't afford to increase the deficit by nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars, especially with the very first substantive vote of the 112th Congress," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.), one of the authors of the law. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said the repeal effort would be fruitless and advised Republicans to "talk about something else." As it launches its campaign to dismantle the health-care overhaul, the GOP has strategically exempted the cost of repealing the bill from new House rules that require new costs or spending to be offset by cuts elsewhere. The House is to vote Wednesday on the two-page resolution to repeal the health law. Republicans have dubbed the resolution "Repealing the Job Killing Health Care Act." Although that is expected to pass the House, the legislation is not likely to go anywhere in the Senate, where Democrats retain a majority. Even conservative Democrats such as Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson have expressed opposition to repeal, although Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin (D., Ill.) said Thursday that Democrats would consider making adjustments to the overhaul. "The majority of the Senate still believes in health-care reform," Durbin said. "We also believe that the only perfect bill ever enacted was carried down the mountain by Sen. Moses. Every other effort has needed some visitation, reconsideration, and this will, too." In the House, Republicans have not said what they would do if their repeal effort failed. GOP leaders have said that various committees would hold hearings in the coming months to examine alternatives and pull together legislation that would address rising costs and eroding coverage. On Thursday, Republicans rejected Democratic calls for hearings on the impact of repeal before a vote. "We believe that we owe the American people an up-or-down vote," said Rep. John Kline (R., Minn.), who will help lead the repeal effort as chairman of the House education and workforce committee. GOP leaders on the House Rules Committee rejected bids from Democrats to offer amendments to the repeal resolution that would protect parts of the law, including expanded access to breast cancer screenings for women and new restrictions on insurance companies. That drew criticism from Democrats on the committee. "You're saying: 'Let's repeal this bill. We don't have a replacement. Trust us,' " said Rep. Jim McGovern (D., Mass.). "So much for the open process. There is none." Speaking to reporters elsewhere at the Capitol, Boehner countered: "I promised a more open process. I didn't promise that every single bill was going to be an open bill." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| GOP pressing ahead with repeal of health care law - Deseret News Posted: 07 Jan 2011 09:07 PM PST Published: Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 10:10 p.m. MST WASHINGTON — House Republicans voted Friday to begin the process of repealing President Barack Obama's health care law in an effort to deliver on a top campaign promise to conservative voters who propelled them to office. But GOP leaders appeared to skirt another pledge, for a more open legislative process as the new majority. Republicans said the American public is so overwhelmingly against the health law that it needs to be abolished without giving Democrats an opportunity to offer amendments to a repeal measure. The two-paragraph repeal bill is scheduled for a vote Wednesday. Polls show voters have mixed views of the health care law. "We're here responding to the will of the American people," said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. "They threw out a whole bunch of members of Congress in constitutional fashion and replaced them with people who took the oath and the pledge to come here to repeal 'Obamacare.' It's pretty simple." The House voted 236-181 to advance the debate, even as a report this week showed that repealing the bill would add $230 billion to the federal deficit over 10 years, more than initially expected. Any repeal bill also must pass the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats and is not expected to go along. That makes the upcoming House vote primarily an exercise in messaging for the new GOP majority and a nod to the tea party activists who aided their rise to power. Democrats have said they would work with the GOP to make improvements to the law. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., stressed this week: "Republicans have to understand the health care bill is not going to be repealed." Four Democrats joined the GOP in Friday's vote, mainly conservative "blue dog" Democrats from southern and western states who opposed the bill last year. Their continued opposition reflects discontent even among some Democrats over the law that was the signature achievement of Obama and the last Congress. But perhaps more telling were the nine other Democrats still in Congress who opposed the health care bill last year but who declined to join the GOP repeal effort, a sign of intensifying partisan warfare. Tea party activists have insisted on an early repeal vote. Democrats have orchestrated an aggressive campaign in defense of the health care law as popular provisions began to take effect Jan. 1. Democrats have pointed to benefits the new law is providing seniors, who now are eligible for a 50 percent reduction on their Medicare prescription drug costs after meeting certain requirements. The law also has prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions and allows parents to enroll their adult children on family plans until age 26. "We're fighting back with everything we've got," said Yohannes Abraham of Organizing for America in a fundraising appeal Friday. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reported this week that repealing the bill would add $230 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. Republicans dismissed the figure. Republicans defended their decision to disallow amendments to the repeal measure, saying Democrats would have a chance to weigh in once Republicans offer alternatives to the health law. "Having this vote tells the people of this country that we heard them during this last campaign," said freshman Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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