Dems Raise Alarms At The Cost Of Health Care Overhaul

If the NY Times is reporting that Democrats around the country are freaking out over the hidden costs of the health care bills now snaking their ways through Congress, then the noise must be deafening. The bills claim to make upwards of $400 billion in savings on Medicare/Medicaid but don't address the real issues.

Both the House and the Senate are proposing cost-saving measures. The House bill projects $440 billion in Medicare savings over 10 years; the Senate Finance Committee bill projects about $420 billion. White House officials say there will be additional, substantial savings in the private sector, as well. But how much is not clear.

While the bills make "official" cuts in Medicare (the House version), other bills quietly reinstate those funds. The Senate recently attempted to side step on Medicare by not making the mandatory cuts that are required to be made each year. Every single year since it's inception, Congress has refused to make the mandatory legislative cuts in fees to physicians and health care providers.

This refusal has raised the underfunding of Medicare by approximately $5 trillion dollars. Yet, Congress insists that it can make health care, under government auspices, both cost effective and affordable. It's the old shell-game writ large. It can't be done, and voters are beginning to wake up to that fact, hence the majority who now oppose it by 54% to 41%.