How Congress Is Cooking the Books | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

How Congress Is Cooking the Books | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Last week, the Senate Finance Committee voted 12-11 not to wait for the Congressional Budget Office to 'score' its health-care bill before the committee votes on it. Imagine that: Some senators actually wanted to know how much the bill costs before voting on it."

"The CBO provides 10- year projections of a bill's cost. But most provisions of the health bill don't take effect until 2014. So the "10-year" cost projection only includes six years of the bill.

Plus, the costs ramp up slowly. In its first year, the House bill would only cost about $6 billion; in its first three, less than $100 billion. The big costs are in the final years of the 10-year budget window — and beyond. In fact, over the first 10 years that the House bill would be in existence (2014 to 2024), its costs would be closer to $2.4 trillion. Similarly, the real cost of the Senate bill over 10 years of operation is estimated at $1.5 trillion.

Worse, the trajectory of the costs after 10 years rises dramatically — meaning 'reform' would cost even more in its second 10 years and beyond."

"For example, the Senate bill relies on Medicare "savings" that Congress keeps refusing to make. Specifically, Medicare has long been ordered to cut 21 percent from what it pays health-care providers — yet, each year since 2003, for reasons both good and bad, Congress has voted to defer the cuts.

Does anyone else really think that Congress is simply going to slash payments to doctors and hospitals by 21 percent across the board?"