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March 23, 2011

CNN: Obamacare's Hidden Costs - $363 billion (But That Barely Scratches the Surface of the Real Cost)

Topics: Political News and commentaries

CNNMoney.com on the "hidden" out-of-pocket costs to consumers: reports:

A year after the passing of health reform, a new industry report revealed that consumers may be paying billions of dollars more in out-of-pocket health care expenses than was previously thought.

These "hidden" costs of health care -- like taking time off to care for elderly parents -- add up to $363 billion, according to a report from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research group.

That amounts to $1,355 per consumer, on top of the $8,000 the government says people spend on doctor fees and hospital care.

"We're surprised that this number came in so high. It's significant," said Paul Keckley, executive director with the group.

The out-of-pocket costs that the government tallies usually include only insurance-related costs like premiums, deductibles, and co-payments.

Keckley said the study is the first to estimate how much consumers dish out on health care related goods and services not covered by private or government insurance.

These include: ambulance services, alternative medicines, nutritional products and vitamins, weight-loss centers and supervisory care of elderly family members.

But the truth is that the $363 billion is not the whole story ... there's another $105 billion (confirmed by the CBO) that was never before disclosed. Michelle Bachman explains:

And that's not including what it costs to make up the $500 billion that Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has admitted was double counted in the Obamacare budget to hide some of Obamacare's real cost ... the surprising list of tax hikes hidden in Obamacare ... the fact that the CBO Director says Obamacare will reduce employment by 800,000 Workers ... or the cost to insurance companies (passed on to consumers) of people gaming the system by dropping coverage, and then buying it when they need something done ... or all those hidden costs on small businesses that will effect both jobs and what consumers pay for their products and services (more taxes, more debt, fewer jobs) ... etc., etc., etc. ...

And importantly, beyond the hidden costs, the CBO has released a report that proves we cannot afford Obamacare (the costs we actually know about):

... the CBO report pulls the mask off the bill and reveals what it really is: a massive tax increase that, on paper at least, is slightly greater than the massive spending hike it also contains. Obamacare thus indisputably represents a massive new burden on current taxpayers and future generations.

Finally, several of Obamacare's "pay-fors" are unlikely to ever become reality. One example is the excise tax on "Cadillac" health plans, an unpopular change that is't supposed to occur until 2018 -- after President Obama is safely out of office. If the Congress and White House responsible for creating this tax weren't willing to put it into effect, it is unlikely that future lawmakers will do so. Without the Cadillac tax, Obamacare loses $111 billion of offsets for new spending.

Unsustainable cuts to the Medicare program are also expected to pay for new spending. Both the CBO director and Medicare's Chief Actuary have warned that these cuts to Medicare provider payments could reduce access to care for seniors and reduce quality of care. Congress's past behavior proves its hesitance to allow similar changes to the program, so savings within Medicare will likely not materialize.

In a nutshell, Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress, along with their allied media, lied about the real cost of Obamacare all along, and pulled every dirty accounting trick in the book to cover up their dastardly deeds ... and they continue to lie about the cost of repealing it.

The simple truth is that we can't even afford the costs we know about, let alone the hidden costs that are just now leaking out drip by drip ... now that they've passed the bill that they had to pass so we could find out what's in it.

Little wonder that now, at its first anniversary, Obamacare is on the run. And ObamaCare is not only unpopular, its growing more so by the day.

Update: CBO: Obama to Push Public Debt above $20 Trillion by 2021 ($20.8 trillion is more than double the size of the current level of public debt, which is $9.6 trillion. It is also 1.4 times as large as the economy is today.)

Posted by Richard at March 23, 2011 9:42 AM

Articles Related to Political News and commentaries:

• CNN: Obamacare's Hidden Costs - $363 billion (But That Barely Scratches the Surface of the Real Cost) - Mar 23, 2011