Democrat Health “Reform” By the Numbers
After the Friday release of the House Democrat leadership’s health reform discussion draft, we have compiled a list of important numbers relevant to the legislation:
852—Pages in the bill
120 million—Number of individuals who could lose their current coverage as a result of the government-run plan reimbursing at Medicare rates created in the bill, according to non-partisan actuaries at the Lewin Group
4.7 million—Number of jobs that could be lost as a result of taxes on businesses that cannot afford to provide health insurance coverage, according to a model developed by Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer
$88,200—Definition of “low-income” family of four for purposes of health insurance subsidies
Trillions—New federal spending, which likely could exceed the $1.6 trillion reported price tag of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus’ legislation
32—Entitlement programs the bill creates, expands, or extends
48—Additional offices, bureaus, commissions, programs, and bureaucracies the bill creates over and above the entitlement programs listed above
1,367—Uses of the word “shall,” representing new duties to be carried out by federal bureaucrats and mandates on individuals, businesses, and States
$10 billion—Minimum loss sustained by taxpayers every year due to Medicare fraud; the government-run health plan utilizes the same ineffective anti-fraud statutes and procedures that have kept Medicare on the Government Accountability Office’s list of high-risk programs for two decades
$1.75 billion—Mandatory spending on home visitation services that would educate parents on “skills to interact with their child”
Zero—Prohibitions on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid from using cost-effectiveness research to impose delays to or denials for access to life-saving treatments
2017—Year Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted—a date unchanged by the legislation, which re-directs savings from Medicare to finance new entitlements for younger Americans