I heard a Senator on C-SPAN (I can’t remember which one) say that the Health Care Reform Bill would:
- Reduce the Deficit
- Extend the Life of the Medicare Trust Fund
- Expand Access to Millions of Uninsured
The New York Times’ Robert Pear notes the double counting of Medicare Savings and Taxes. This is a bit tricky to follow, but the Medicare Savings (Expense Reductions) and increases in Medicare Taxes (Revenue Increases) would create an additional $300+ Billion in Medicare Part A Trust Fund Assets. These assets would not be in the form of anything tangible, but rather, an intergovernmental IOU issued by the General Fund. The IOU is created since the General Fund would be spending the Medicare Trust Fund’s Money on expanding and subsidizing coverage (starting in 2014).
So, to say your Spending and Saving the exact same money is a bit of a stretch! Kind of like having your cake and eating it too!
The worse part is, as Pear mentions, the “cake” may not even exist. CMS’ Chief Actuary, Rick Foster notes that the bill’s estimated savings “may be unrealistic.”
So, we may be both HAVING and SAVING a cake that doesn’t even exist! Now that’s creative accounting!
[...] I talked most the “double counting” supply before in cost of selection Medicare and upbr… By transferring the money from the Medicare Trust Fund to the General Fund and outlay “Medicare Money” on newborn programs, the agent Government is obligating itself to move the Medicare Trust Fund at whatever point. It seems to me that if you’re hunting to improve money for a newborn program, the set should be a generalized set and not a “Medicare” tax. [...]
[...] I talked about the “double counting” issue before in terms of cutting Medicare and raisi… By transferring the money from the Medicare Trust Fund to the General Fund and spending “Medicare Money” on new programs, the Federal Government is obligating itself to repay the Medicare Trust Fund at some point. It seems to me that if you’re looking to raise money for a new program, the tax should be a general tax and not a “Medicare” tax. [...]