HHS Internal Audit: House Bill Raises Health Care Premiums $289B

A week late, and a vote too short; but on the plus side, it makes every single Congressional Democrat in Wisconsin (That'd be you David Obey and Steve Kagen) look like a goof as they tell every media outlet who will cover them how awesome the recently passed House Health Care Bill is.

In the meantime, check out this article from the Hill which points out that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a non-partisan auditing unit inside the Department of Health and Human Services, finds the House Health Care Reform Bill will raise the costs of health care $289 billion over the next decade.

The CMS report is a blow to the White House and House Democrats who have vowed that healthcare reform would curb the growth of healthcare spending. CMS's analysis is not an apples-to-apples comparison to the cost estimate conducted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) because CMS did not review tax provisions, which help offset the price tag of the Democrats' measure.

However, the CMS analysis clearly states that the House bill falls short in attaining a key goal of the Democrats' effort to reform the nation's healthcare system: "With the exception of the proposed reduction in Medicare... the provisions of H.R. 3962 would not have a significant impact on future healthcare cost growth rates."

CMS also finds that the bill will effect the health care of seniors through over $550 billion in Medicare costs.  The Washington Post has a 1A story on that aspect.  You can read that here.