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	<title>Comments on: CBO’s First Look at the Baucus Bill —More Medicaid, Higher Taxes, Less Coverage</title>
	<atom:link href="http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/</link>
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		<title>By: High Cost of Obamacare and Health Care Reform &#124; Fix Health Care Policy</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-61452</link>
		<dc:creator>High Cost of Obamacare and Health Care Reform &#124; Fix Health Care Policy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:44:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-61452</guid>
		<description>[...] Baucus bill spends at least $1 trillion, fails to cover all Americans, taxes employers for creating jobs, and inflicts higher out-of-pocket health care costs on all [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Baucus bill spends at least $1 trillion, fails to cover all Americans, taxes employers for creating jobs, and inflicts higher out-of-pocket health care costs on all [...]</p>
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		<title>By: quantumfoam</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-61346</link>
		<dc:creator>quantumfoam</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:21:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-61346</guid>
		<description>Thank God for Heritage. Their honesty and research for the truth is greatly appreciated. I believe they may have invented trustworthiness. </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank God for Heritage. Their honesty and research for the truth is greatly appreciated. I believe they may have invented trustworthiness.</p>
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		<title>By: Ron Penn, Lake Worth</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60912</link>
		<dc:creator>Ron Penn, Lake Worth</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:19:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60912</guid>
		<description>It&#039;s obvious that Baucus cooked the books until he could slip a low number past CBO. Rigging the 
numbers and excluding legislative language is hardly a great achievement. Now they&#039;re trying to run the finances with mirrors.  
 
People go to jail for less. What kind of dummies do they take us for? It&#039;s just one insult after another. When the pendulum swings, I hope they remember what &quot;paybacks&quot; are called. </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#039;s obvious that Baucus cooked the books until he could slip a low number past CBO. Rigging the</p>
<p>numbers and excluding legislative language is hardly a great achievement. Now they&#039;re trying to run the finances with mirrors. </p>
<p>People go to jail for less. What kind of dummies do they take us for? It&#039;s just one insult after another. When the pendulum swings, I hope they remember what &quot;paybacks&quot; are called.</p>
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		<title>By: Liz, Maryland</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60681</link>
		<dc:creator>Liz, Maryland</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:23:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60681</guid>
		<description>Can anyone point to a long-term CBO report that has been even close to being accurate? 
 
Now is a good time to read the full text of the Declaration of Independence. Well into the document, John Hancock summed up how we all feel now; that we have peacefully appealled to the government, in thousands of town halls, emails, letters, blogs and a huge demonstration on the Mall. All of it has fallen on deaf ears..even worse our concerns have been flicked away like a dead fly on a windowsill.  I am insulted by this congress, and its leader, and they must be thrown out in the next election. 
 
&quot;In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.&quot; </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Can anyone point to a long-term CBO report that has been even close to being accurate?</p>
<p>Now is a good time to read the full text of the Declaration of Independence. Well into the document, John Hancock summed up how we all feel now; that we have peacefully appealled to the government, in thousands of town halls, emails, letters, blogs and a huge demonstration on the Mall. All of it has fallen on deaf ears..even worse our concerns have been flicked away like a dead fly on a windowsill.  I am insulted by this congress, and its leader, and they must be thrown out in the next election.</p>
<p>&quot;In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.&quot;</p>
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		<title>By: Chuck D</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60542</link>
		<dc:creator>Chuck D</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:35:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60542</guid>
		<description>The CBO is playing politics with the nations economy and if you are any type of a math person you can see the errors in their judgment. No bill is written yet, no costs are known yet, it is all guess work to say the least. History shows the Federal government has no idea how to run a corporation at even a break even point so how are things going to change today? The president should stop, step back and say &quot;I have made a mistake(s) and I am sorry.&quot;  &quot;Now we must start all over again and get the politicans out of the picture and let the &quot;people&quot; write a health care bill.&quot;  The people do forgive if one says &quot;I am sorry&quot; and begins again with a ture idea of what the people want.  No politicans in the picture, just concerned people from all aspects of U.S. economic, educational, job type etc do this state by state then combine and work out differences recognizing regional, state differences etc along the way.  Private enterprise seems to be popular with the U.S. public and that should be used reather than government for the operation of any &quot;health care&quot; ideas. </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The CBO is playing politics with the nations economy and if you are any type of a math person you can see the errors in their judgment. No bill is written yet, no costs are known yet, it is all guess work to say the least. History shows the Federal government has no idea how to run a corporation at even a break even point so how are things going to change today? The president should stop, step back and say &quot;I have made a mistake(s) and I am sorry.&quot;  &quot;Now we must start all over again and get the politicans out of the picture and let the &quot;people&quot; write a health care bill.&quot;  The people do forgive if one says &quot;I am sorry&quot; and begins again with a ture idea of what the people want.  No politicans in the picture, just concerned people from all aspects of U.S. economic, educational, job type etc do this state by state then combine and work out differences recognizing regional, state differences etc along the way.  Private enterprise seems to be popular with the U.S. public and that should be used reather than government for the operation of any &quot;health care&quot; ideas.</p>
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		<title>By: HSR0601</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60498</link>
		<dc:creator>HSR0601</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:59:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60498</guid>
		<description>The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that having a &quot;public option&quot; would squeeze $100 billion in costs from the system over 10 years because of competition with private insurers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. 
 
  
Compromise doesn&#039;t mean compromising the essence of  policy, all know it  !! 
  
1.  As regards a Baucus scheme, the source of funding coming from a middle class is utterly against the commitment of Democratic party. And the bill would require people to buy insurance they can hardly afford. 
 
The letter from 154 House Democrats to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urges her &#8220;to reject proposals to enact an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans that could be potentially passed on to middle-class families.&#8221; 
 
 
&#8220;This is not an obscure detail of health care reform,&#8221; said Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney, who drafted the letter. &#8220;Taxing health benefits was explicitly debated in the campaign by presidential candidates and people running for Congress.&#8221; 
  
2.  No cost-competitive advantage of the insurer-friendly scheme does not clear the grave concern about the unsustainable growth in cost of overall health care program in the long run. Baucus scheme Doesn&#039;t Bend Cost Curve Enough, Experts Say.  
  
Byond, the scheme proposes a &quot;fake&quot; alternative, nonprofit insurance cooperatives -- and it places so many &quot;restrictions&quot; on these cooperatives that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, they &quot;seem unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas of the country.&quot; 
 
  Senator Rockefeller is also upset that the bill would turn nearly a half-trillion dollars over to insurance companies, whose profits he says are &#8220;out of sight.&#8221; 
 
And the bill would lock many workers into health plans selected by their employers, without allowing them to shop for better, cheaper plans, an alternative that could help drive down costs for everyone. 
 
 
3.  Even with some benefit for primary practitioners, the baseless scheme does not come with fundamental payment reform, or a pay for value reimbursement formula. It means that the insurer-friendly scheme is not cleaning up the concerns over quality, regional imbalance issues and  $9trillion of deficit over the next ten years. 
  
 ((Here is some of CBO analysis :  While the costs of the financial bailouts and economic stimulus bills are staggering, they are only a fraction of the coming costs from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that each year Medicaid will expand by 7 percent, Medicare by 6 percent, and Social Security by 5 percent. These programs face a 75-year shortfall of $43 trillion--60 times greater than the gross cost of the $700 billion TARP financial bailout)).  
  
4. For Medicare &amp; Medicaid system to survive from the most wasteful structure on earth,  enough savings via fundamental changes need to be ensured, in return, the savings thereof suffice to meet the goal of well-planned public option. 
  
((Even with far less visits to docs, which average a half or a third of them in any other free states, Americans pay roughly twice as much per person right now)). 
  
5.  For the record, prior to nation-wide deployment of reform, The State Of  &quot;Yes We Can&quot;, Minnesota influenced by Mayo clinic spends &quot;20 percent&quot; less per patient than the national average and 31 percent less than in the highest cost state. It highlights that no substantial tax raise is needed at least for sure. 
  
((The $583 billion of revenue package, and the astronomical savings of public option  aside, &quot;20%&quot; of $923.5bn (the combined Medicare and Medicaid cost per year, as of July) represents around  $184.7bn per year and 1.847trillion over the next decade, and this patient-centered value alone could be sufficient to meet the goal of public option)).  
  
6. In principle, the long-awaited and most hopeful health care plan is to meet these criterias : Affordability, Quality, and A Check function against runaway premiums thereof. 
  
Clearly enough, due largely to its lower overhead cost, purchasing power and fundamental payment reform, the well-planned public option would be doing more than the baseless scheme by THE INDUSTRY in these aforementioned aspects. 
  
Now is the moment to open the page of contemporary energy and financial upgrades glossed over in 8 years.  
  
 Thank You ! </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that having a &quot;public option&quot; would squeeze $100 billion in costs from the system over 10 years because of competition with private insurers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.</p>
<p>Compromise doesn&#039;t mean compromising the essence of  policy, all know it  !!</p>
<p>1.  As regards a Baucus scheme, the source of funding coming from a middle class is utterly against the commitment of Democratic party. And the bill would require people to buy insurance they can hardly afford.</p>
<p>The letter from 154 House Democrats to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urges her &ldquo;to reject proposals to enact an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans that could be potentially passed on to middle-class families.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is not an obscure detail of health care reform,&rdquo; said Connecticut Rep. Joe Courtney, who drafted the letter. &ldquo;Taxing health benefits was explicitly debated in the campaign by presidential candidates and people running for Congress.&rdquo;</p>
<p>2.  No cost-competitive advantage of the insurer-friendly scheme does not clear the grave concern about the unsustainable growth in cost of overall health care program in the long run. Baucus scheme Doesn&#039;t Bend Cost Curve Enough, Experts Say. </p>
<p>Byond, the scheme proposes a &quot;fake&quot; alternative, nonprofit insurance cooperatives &#8212; and it places so many &quot;restrictions&quot; on these cooperatives that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, they &quot;seem unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas of the country.&quot;</p>
<p>  Senator Rockefeller is also upset that the bill would turn nearly a half-trillion dollars over to insurance companies, whose profits he says are &ldquo;out of sight.&rdquo;</p>
<p>And the bill would lock many workers into health plans selected by their employers, without allowing them to shop for better, cheaper plans, an alternative that could help drive down costs for everyone.</p>
<p>3.  Even with some benefit for primary practitioners, the baseless scheme does not come with fundamental payment reform, or a pay for value reimbursement formula. It means that the insurer-friendly scheme is not cleaning up the concerns over quality, regional imbalance issues and  $9trillion of deficit over the next ten years.</p>
<p> ((Here is some of CBO analysis :  While the costs of the financial bailouts and economic stimulus bills are staggering, they are only a fraction of the coming costs from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that each year Medicaid will expand by 7 percent, Medicare by 6 percent, and Social Security by 5 percent. These programs face a 75-year shortfall of $43 trillion&#8211;60 times greater than the gross cost of the $700 billion TARP financial bailout)). </p>
<p>4. For Medicare &amp; Medicaid system to survive from the most wasteful structure on earth,  enough savings via fundamental changes need to be ensured, in return, the savings thereof suffice to meet the goal of well-planned public option.</p>
<p>((Even with far less visits to docs, which average a half or a third of them in any other free states, Americans pay roughly twice as much per person right now)).</p>
<p>5.  For the record, prior to nation-wide deployment of reform, The State Of  &quot;Yes We Can&quot;, Minnesota influenced by Mayo clinic spends &quot;20 percent&quot; less per patient than the national average and 31 percent less than in the highest cost state. It highlights that no substantial tax raise is needed at least for sure.</p>
<p>((The $583 billion of revenue package, and the astronomical savings of public option  aside, &quot;20%&quot; of $923.5bn (the combined Medicare and Medicaid cost per year, as of July) represents around  $184.7bn per year and 1.847trillion over the next decade, and this patient-centered value alone could be sufficient to meet the goal of public option)). </p>
<p>6. In principle, the long-awaited and most hopeful health care plan is to meet these criterias : Affordability, Quality, and A Check function against runaway premiums thereof.</p>
<p>Clearly enough, due largely to its lower overhead cost, purchasing power and fundamental payment reform, the well-planned public option would be doing more than the baseless scheme by THE INDUSTRY in these aforementioned aspects.</p>
<p>Now is the moment to open the page of contemporary energy and financial upgrades glossed over in 8 years. </p>
<p> Thank You !</p>
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		<title>By: Freedom of Speech, T</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60402</link>
		<dc:creator>Freedom of Speech, T</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:57:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60402</guid>
		<description>This is not just about BAUCAS. I would wager there is communication going back and forth from someone in the White House. 
 
Boy, this is exactly what we do not need - expand medicaid.  
 
The Feds are leading us to disaster with their Keynesian economics and they will not cut our losses and stop.  
 
They abhore tax cuts even though it has a proven record of raising revenues - because they cannot swallow their pride and admit this current line of action WILL NOT WORK. 
 
Increased Medicaid? That&#039;s one way to put more pressure on states already hurting. 
 
Heritage Foundation should do an IN-DEPTH article on the background of EACH of Obama&#039;s &quot;Economic Advisors&quot;.  Who are these people? Are they really his advisors or just window dressing?  
 
If someone else is calling the shots against the economic advisors&#039; advice, (some Czar, perhaps), the economic advisors ought to have enough moral courage to resign and go to the press. 
 
If the economic advisors are the primary source for this plan, their names should be publicly known and what their role was in the on-going implosion of our system. 
 
We all know it is spending and borrowing but WHO is really the architect behind this? </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is not just about BAUCAS. I would wager there is communication going back and forth from someone in the White House.</p>
<p>Boy, this is exactly what we do not need &#8211; expand medicaid. </p>
<p>The Feds are leading us to disaster with their Keynesian economics and they will not cut our losses and stop. </p>
<p>They abhore tax cuts even though it has a proven record of raising revenues &#8211; because they cannot swallow their pride and admit this current line of action WILL NOT WORK.</p>
<p>Increased Medicaid? That&#039;s one way to put more pressure on states already hurting.</p>
<p>Heritage Foundation should do an IN-DEPTH article on the background of EACH of Obama&#039;s &quot;Economic Advisors&quot;.  Who are these people? Are they really his advisors or just window dressing? </p>
<p>If someone else is calling the shots against the economic advisors&#039; advice, (some Czar, perhaps), the economic advisors ought to have enough moral courage to resign and go to the press.</p>
<p>If the economic advisors are the primary source for this plan, their names should be publicly known and what their role was in the on-going implosion of our system.</p>
<p>We all know it is spending and borrowing but WHO is really the architect behind this?</p>
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		<title>By: IAndrew Cole, Burlin</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60238</link>
		<dc:creator>IAndrew Cole, Burlin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:20:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60238</guid>
		<description>Obama proves himself here to be the &quot;Legislator of the General Will&quot; of &#039;We the People&#039; as outlined in this 4-step &quot;will to power.&quot;  We must be forced to do &quot;what is best for us.&quot; </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Obama proves himself here to be the &quot;Legislator of the General Will&quot; of &#039;We the People&#039; as outlined in this 4-step &quot;will to power.&quot;  We must be forced to do &quot;what is best for us.&quot;</p>
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		<title>By: Janis, Duluth, GA</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60201</link>
		<dc:creator>Janis, Duluth, GA</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:31:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60201</guid>
		<description>I am very concerned with the CBO after their meeting at the White House.  I think they may be estimating with an &quot;Obamanomics&quot; lesson under their belt. Since the White House seems to not respect our laws, what keeps them from intimidating the CBO.  After the Obama meeting the CBOs reports have been more to the White House&#039;s approval. 
I trust Nothing that this Adminstration has had it&#039;s hands on.  They do not respect the Constitution!    Time to Impeach before any more damage is done to our Republic. </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I am very concerned with the CBO after their meeting at the White House.  I think they may be estimating with an &quot;Obamanomics&quot; lesson under their belt. Since the White House seems to not respect our laws, what keeps them from intimidating the CBO.  After the Obama meeting the CBOs reports have been more to the White House&#039;s approval.</p>
<p>I trust Nothing that this Adminstration has had it&#039;s hands on.  They do not respect the Constitution!    Time to Impeach before any more damage is done to our Republic.</p>
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		<title>By: hoads</title>
		<link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/cbo%e2%80%99s-first-look-at-the-baucus-bill-%e2%80%94more-medicaid-higher-taxes-less-coverage/#comment-60175</link>
		<dc:creator>hoads</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:38:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.foundry.org/?p=16665#comment-60175</guid>
		<description>All they wanted was a headline and they got it.  They&#039;re just looking for breathing room to keep the masses out of the way while they railroad this through.  Opponents need to be more diligent and more vocal and call them out on this deception. </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>All they wanted was a headline and they got it.  They&#039;re just looking for breathing room to keep the masses out of the way while they railroad this through.  Opponents need to be more diligent and more vocal and call them out on this deception.</p>
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