The health-care overhaul enacted last spring won’t significantly change national health spending over the next decade compared with projections before the law was passed, according to government figures set to be released Thursday.
The report by federal number-crunchers casts fresh doubt on Democrats’ argument that the health-care law would curb the sharp increase in costs over the long term, the second setback this week for one of the party’s biggest legislative achievements. …
Regardless of the health law, national health spending has been rising in recent years and economists expect that to continue. In February, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projected that overall national health spending would increase an average of 6.1% a year over the next decade.
The center’s economists recalculated the numbers in light of the health bill and now project that the increase will average 6.3% a year, according to a report in the journal Health Affairs. Total U.S. health spending will reach $4.6 trillion by 2019, accounting for nearly one of every five U.S. dollars spent, the report says.
“The overall net impact is moderate,” said lead author Andrea Sisko, an economist at the Medicare agency. “The underlying impacts on coverage and financing are more pronounced.”
I present to you a chart directly from the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services; Health Affairs:
Earlier in the week, the Journal reported that insurers have already begun raising premiums in response to the front-loading of Healthcare Reform benefit mandates by the White House. That report sent Democrats into fits of anger, threatening to “ratchet up pressure” on insurers. Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) blamed “greed” for price increases instead of the higher costs imposed by the mandates — all of which was the predicted consequence of adding more mandates and bureaucracy to insurance coverage.
I would like to hear the same Democrats attempt to explain once again how the higher costs in Healthcare Reform meets their promise of bending the cost curve downward. In addtion to this bit of news, it also consistently pushes the curve upwards for private insurance, and especially Medicaid. It only bends downward for Medicare and slightly downward for out-of-pocket costs for consumers. (Figures are on WSJ link above)
Medicare does look slightly better under Healthcare Reform due to the lower reimbursement rates for Medicare services, which means it comes out of the pockets of doctors. The predictable result will be fewer participating providers in Medicare, which will mean longer wait times, more difficulty in getting treatments, and most likely higher out-of-pocket payments as those consumers pay retail for their medical care more often.
