The CMS actuary report on the Senate health care bill shows total health expenditure climbing $234 billion but out-of-pocket spending actually declining over the decade. So we’ll spend more and get worse care.
The bill would add 20 million people to Medicaid and cause 5 million people to lose their employer-sponsored health insurance.
Medicare would cut payments for Medicare Advantage by $88 billion over 10 years – all but destroying the program, but would have almost no savings from program integrity efforts to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse. “High-income taxpayers” would face $37.5 billion in new taxes.
The end result would be $929 billion more in federal spending on coverage, offset in part by the changes listed above, other tax hikes, and unprecedented (read: unlikely) Medicare savings.
Again, the one proven method of reducing health care spending while improving quality is ignored.