The truth about the Baucus Bill

On Sunday, October 11th, the Washington Examiner ran the first half of a two part editorial entitled, “The Truth About the Baucus Bill.”  The two articles investigate the recent release of the CBO’s assessment of the Baucus health care reform bill. 

Among other things, the first piece states that:

…two words in the CBO statement– “Preliminary Analysis”– demonstrate that such celebrations were not only premature, but fundamentally misleading.

(The CBO) was not allowed to score the actual text of the Baucus bill but rather had to rely on a legislative summary provided by Senate committee staff. So not only were CBO’s analysts forced to look at language that put the bill in the best possible light, they were also denied the concrete details and precise legal wording that quite possibly could change their conclusions entirely.

…enactment of the Baucus approach will add approximately $900 billion to the federal budget.

The second editorial, released this morning, asserts that under the Baucus Bill there will be:

• $426 billion in Medicare and Medicare Advantage benefit cuts


• $4 billion in new fines imposed on those who do not purchase insurance


• $201 billion in new levies on health insurance companies with high-end health insurance plans


• $180 billion in new taxes on medical devices and drugs


• $83 billion in new income taxes on individuals


• $25 billion in new taxes on employers