More evidence Obamacare is a nightmare for taxpayers
In October, the Obama administration acknowledged that the portion of Obamacare that contributed the most deficit “reduction” — the CLASS Act, which created a new long-term care entitlement and allegedly was going to reduce deficits by $86 billion between 2012 and 2021 — was unworkable. The House this month voted to repeal the law, while the White House seeks a way to fix it. But the clear bottom line was that more than two-thirds of the $124 billion in promised deficit “savings” during these 10 years was unlikely ever to materialize.
Now, President Obama’s new budget finishes off the always-ludicrous notion that he could create a new, $1 trillion-a-decade entitlement and somehow reduce deficits. Avik Roy reports at Forbes:
The White House’s fiscal year 2013 budget adds $111 billion in exchange spending between 2014 and 2021, with even more spending to come in future years. … In 2021 alone, the difference between the two budgets is almost $20 billion, implying that exchange spending will be up by over $200 billion in the decade following 2021.
For the math-challenged: Subtracting $86 billion and $111 billion from an alleged deficit reduction of $124 billion equals a deficit increase of $73 billion. And this is the best-case scenario, as Roy goes on to explain:
If businesses do what the new health law clearly incentivizes them to do, exchange spending could be up by over $2 trillion in the decade following 2021.
The incentive to which Roy refers is the fact that Obamacare makes it relatively cheaper for employers to dump their health coverage, pay a fine and let employees use federal subsidies to buy health insurance in the federally mandated exchanges.
The costs for the most reckless piece of federal law in at least a generation only continue to rise, just as all of us who opposed Obamacare predicted. And the forecasts are only going to get worse with each passing year, if only because we are now burning through the years when Obamacare front-loaded new tax revenues before really adding new spending; that was another of the budgetary ruses Democrats used to create the fiction that Obamacare was fiscally responsible.
It is increasingly clear that taking the law completely off the books is the only way to avoid a true fiscal catastrophe.
– By Kyle Wingfield
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
296 comments Add your comment
saywhat?
March 5th, 2012
9:02 am
Will,
That would be a good question except for two things-
1) All the Republican contenders are “say anything to get elected” types
2) None of them will win the general election anyway.
dbm
March 5th, 2012
9:03 am
@ carlosgvv
March 5th, 2012
8:34 am
There was already a lot of government interference in the late 1800’s. In particular, there were tariffs, and there had been heavy government subsidies distorting the railroad business.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
9:03 am
At some point in time China will stop furnishing the money,the dollar becomes worthless.
————————-
Thanks, Democrats.
Obozo doesn’t care if the dollar becomes worthless–his parasite base doesn’t have any.
clyde
March 5th, 2012
9:14 am
Obama care will be a permanent disaster after the coming election.
Jefferson
March 5th, 2012
9:14 am
You had a choice, you made the wrong one. Newt supporters have zero credibility.
Just saying..
March 5th, 2012
9:14 am
Political commentary from Kyle Wingfield:
-”Obama is bad”
-”Obama is bad”
-”Obama is bad”
-”Obama is bad”
-”Obama is bad”
-”Obama is bad”
-”Obama is bad”
and so forth…
Tall
March 5th, 2012
9:16 am
….”As a well connected republican newspaper writer, I have a question for you….Hmmm…..I’m not so sure I believe that.
bluecoat
March 5th, 2012
9:19 am
Obamas parasite base.Have no money lose no money.Romney parasite base,take from middle class,to add to 1%.Creating more Obama base to vote for Obama.Less green,red fades,blue becomes color.
bluecoat
March 5th, 2012
9:25 am
Obamacare copied Romneycare including all the lies.Democrats do not have a patent on lies.Mission accomplished.
bali high
March 5th, 2012
9:26 am
So many experts, so many dummies, Wait until you get sick .
carlosgvv
March 5th, 2012
9:32 am
dbm – 9:03
True. History shows that when Big Business and Govt. get into bed together, the American people always suffer.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
9:32 am
“If businesses do what [Obozo] clearly incentivizes them to do, exchange spending could be up by over $2 trillion in the decade following 2021.”
———————-
Thanks, Democrats.
If America is to survive, Americans must outnumber Democrats at the polls in Novemer.
Becky
March 5th, 2012
9:35 am
Barry-good luck with that wish! The democratic women of this great nation will show up in huge numbers to vote you repubs out of office and re-elect President Obama. We outnumber you remember? And we certainly will remember the trash spewed by the right.
Just saying..
March 5th, 2012
9:37 am
bluecoat @ 9:25 am-
Do you think that light bulb will ever turn on for Kyle?
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
9:42 am
Becky, don’t go assuming that all women think like parasites and are simply going to vote for Obozo because he’ll transfer more from the productive to them. Many women still think like Americans and will vote Republican.
Becky
March 5th, 2012
9:51 am
Barry-don’t hold your breath.
MarkV
March 5th, 2012
9:55 am
Kyle’s Breaking News: A new, complex law, which guarantees health insurance to more Americans and stops some of the worst outrages perpetrated by the insurance companies, but falls short of better solutions because of the Republican opposition, needs some fixing.
Yawn.
jm
March 5th, 2012
9:55 am
Good column Kyle
jm
March 5th, 2012
9:56 am
I would say this though: the incentives need to go, but the exchanges need to happen.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
10:00 am
Becky, note below stats from 2010 elections. In these key Senate races where large gender gaps existed, by upwards of 40% women still voted for the American:
• In Colorado, women preferred Democrat Michael Bennet over Republican Ken Buck by a margin of 56% to 39%, while men opted for Buck (54% to 40%).
• In Pennsylvania, women preferred loser Democrat Joe Sestak to Republican Pat Toomey by a margin of 54% to 46% while men preferred the victorious Toomey to Sestak (56% to 44%).
• In Wisconsin, women chose loser Democrat Russ Feingold over Ron Johnson (52% to 48%) while men strongly supported the winning candidate Johnson over Feingold (56% to 42%).
• Similarly, in Illinois, women preferred loser Democrat Alexi Giannoulias to Republican Mark Kirk (49% to 46%) while men preferred the winner Kirk to Giannoulias (50% to 45%).
http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/press_room/news/documents/PressRelease_11-04-10-GG.pdf
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:01 am
@Lil’ Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
6:26 am
Ayn Rant: The Obozo plan and “insurance exchanges” are Democrat ploys to prolong the big-government liberals illusion that the free market is guiding health care spending decisions, while in fact all coverage requirements and pricing are determined by the federal government. The Obozo plan is one big Marxist camel’s nose under the free market tent.
***************************************************************************
DON’T BLAME OBAMA BLAME ROMNEY.
Romney offered Obama his Massachusetts plan as a substitute for the public option and explicitly recommended the insurance mandate be adopted.
Not surprisingly, Rick Santorum is jumping on this as well.
“Governor Romney has been saying throughout the course of this campaign, ‘Oh, I never recommended that they adopt my program in Massachusetts for an individual federal mandate, oh, I never did that,’” Santorum told the crowd of about 250 people.
“OH YES, he did. In a 2009 USA Today op-ed he recommended, he made suggestions to President Obama, including the individual mandate and taxing people who don’t buy insurance.
That is the individual mandate.”
DON’T BLAME OBAMA BLAME ROMNEY.
Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:02 am
“Don’t let facts get in the way of your vitriol.”
Becky, grow up.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 5th, 2012
10:07 am
“Look at Massachusetts, which has basically the same plan in place and has been for several years and it works for them.”
Except it’s not, and that it really doesn’t in the budget department, ByteMe.
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:08 am
@Lil’ Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
9:42 am
Becky, don’t go assuming that all women think like parasites and are simply going to vote for Obozo because he’ll transfer more from the productive to them. Many women still think like Americans and will vote Republican.
************************************************************
TODAY the Republicans HAVE A 40% DISAPPROVAL RATING.
White women are going to DESTROY the Republican Party come November 2012.
YOU guys messed with the wrong group.
You thought it was OK to mess with black women calling them welfare queens. But NOW
you have MESSED WITH YOUR OWN.
White women along with black, asian, hispanic, and other women are going to RE-ELECT OBAMA thanks to RUSH LIMBAUGH and the angry Republican Men.
Jefferson
March 5th, 2012
10:08 am
The GOP likes to hold its women in check, but in the privacy of a voting booth, they can stand up for themselves.
Becky
March 5th, 2012
10:10 am
do what? touch a nerve did I? hahahahahahahahhaha loser
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:11 am
@Tiberius – Your lightning rod of hate!
March 5th, 2012
10:07 am
“Look at Massachusetts, which has basically the same plan in place and has been for several years and it works for them.”
Except it’s not, and that it really doesn’t in the budget department, ByteMe.
**************************************************************
Keep LOOKING and you MIGHT find a PROBLEM for your SOLUTION.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 5th, 2012
10:14 am
The people who think single-pater is the way to go don’t address the cost issue, only the accessibility issue.
Costs are NOT addressed in a single-payer solution. All that does is shift the source of the funds, but the funds still have to be paid out.
The ONLY sure method of reducing health care costs is tort reform. Doctors surveyed say they run extra and unnecessary test to avoid the threat of litigation to the tune of an extra 30% in health care costs. But every time that issue is brought up, the libs change the argument by stating only the cost of malpractice PREMIUMS, not the cost of defensive medicine.
You can’t provide solutions if you don’t know what the problem is. No wonder the ACA is going to be such a failure.
Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:16 am
” touch a nerve did I? hahahahahahahahhaha loser”
And the name calling begins.
Tick…tick…tick…..
Becky, no one on this blog wants to pay for your birth control pills. Get a job.
Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:16 am
“The GOP likes to hold its women in check”
The Democrats like to rape their women.
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:16 am
@Lil’ Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
9:42 am
Becky, don’t go assuming that all women think like parasites and are simply going to vote for Obozo because he’ll transfer more from the productive to them. Many women still think like Americans and will vote Republican.
***************************************************************************************
NEW POLL TODAY.
WOMEN MOVING TOWARDS DEMOCRATS.
THANKS
Lil Barry Bailout
Kyle Wingfield
Angry Republican men
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum
Newt Gingrich
Rush Limbaugh
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:18 am
@Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:16 am
“The GOP likes to hold its women in check”
The Democrats like to rape their women.
**************************************************************************
NEW POLL TODAY.
WOMEN MOVING TOWARDS DEMOCRATS.
THANKS Do what??????
Uncle Billy
March 5th, 2012
10:19 am
Tiberius, tort reform was passed in Georgia several years ago. Has it brought the costs of health care here down? Has it brought the costs of malpractice premiums down? It was passed in California in the ’70s. Has it reduced the costs there?
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:20 am
@Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:16 am
” touch a nerve did I? hahahahahahahahhaha loser”
And the name calling begins.
Tick…tick…tick…..
Becky, no one on this blog wants to pay for your birth control pills. Get a job.
**************************************************************
NEW POLL TODAY.
WOMEN MOVING TOWARDS DEMOCRATS.
THANKS AGAIN Do what??????
Becky
March 5th, 2012
10:20 am
Good grief-you repub losers can’t let go of the birth control argument. Do you get your jollies constantly talking about it? Move on to more important things like job creation!
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
10:21 am
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:16 am
——————–
Sockpuppet, I didn’t say all women would vote Republican. Many women agree that the productive should have their property taken away and transferred to them–they’re parasites.
But 40-plus percent of women don’t think like that. They think like Americans.
Combined with the male vote, that may be enough.
If we want to take America back from the communist Obozo and his Democrat receptacles, Americans will have to outnumber Democrats in November.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 5th, 2012
10:23 am
“Tiberius, tort reform was passed in Georgia several years ago. Has it brought the costs of health care here down? Has it brought the costs of malpractice premiums down?”
Uncle Billy, you DO realize that most of that reform was thrown out when challenged in the courts, right? So, no, it hasn’t done what it was supposed to to because of a poorly worded law and an bought and paid for court.
Nice try.
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:32 am
Arguing Obamacare is MUTE.
Women are moving towards the Democrats.
The damage that RUSH LIMBAUGH has inflicted on himself and the Angry Republican Men tin he last few days is likely to be LONG-LASTING, and won’t be diminished by the apology that he issued over the weekend.
OBAMA IN NOVEMBER 2012.
Thanks Angry Republican Men for SHOWING WOMEN THE LIGHT.
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:34 am
@Lil’ Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
March 5th, 2012
10:21 am
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
10:16 am
——————–
Sockpuppet, I didn’t say all women would vote Republican. Many women agree that the productive should have their property taken away and transferred to them–they’re parasites.
************************************************************
LADIES
This is a PERFECT EXAMPLE of an ANGRY REPUBLICAN MAN.
Ladies go to the light……………THE DEMOCRATS ARE WAITING.
Jefferson
March 5th, 2012
10:38 am
If the health care workers are going to continue to earn good (as in some cases astronomical) salaries, health care will have to be run as non profit. The cost savings will have to come from the excessive profits the insurance giants walk away with. If the single payer system becomes the gov’t, that’s the way the ball rolls.
Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:40 am
“NEW POLL TODAY.”
Where is it?
Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:41 am
“Good grief-you repub losers can’t let go of the birth control argument. Do you get your jollies constantly talking about it? Move on to more important things like job creation!”
Becky needs to get a job.
Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:41 am
“Women are moving towards the Democrats.”
Prove it.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
March 5th, 2012
10:52 am
“If the health care workers are going to continue to earn good (as in some cases astronomical) salaries, health care will have to be run as non profit. ”
Yeah, ’cause I want my health care provided by the equivalent of a lowest-bidder assembly line worker.
Gimme Gimme Gimme
March 5th, 2012
11:00 am
LMAO
All the Lib’s trying to change the subject to Iraq are just saying that Kyle is 100% correct.
Dirty Dawg
March 5th, 2012
11:01 am
Enter your comments here
Jefferson
March 5th, 2012
11:01 am
T- you said that, I didn’t.
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
11:08 am
VIAGRA AND VASECTOMIES ARE COVERED.
What’s up with that?
Angry Republican Men Are Hypocritical.
Dirty Dawg
March 5th, 2012
11:09 am
So what if more companies decide to pay fines rather than continue providing coverage…and so what if an effort to repeal the ACA is undertaken? In the first instance the pressure to convert the entire health-care system to a single-payer one will be too much to ignore, and in the second the, so-called, repeal will just an opportunity to re-work the entire system to something akin to ‘Medicare For All’ which the only way we can hope to bring down the cost of the stuff in the first place.
Opposition to Obamacare is A Solution Looking For A Problem
March 5th, 2012
11:10 am
@Do what??????
March 5th, 2012
10:41 am
“Women are moving towards the Democrats.”
Prove it.
***********************************************************
I don’t have to PROVE anything to you.
WHO ARE YOU?
Just another angry Republican man?
SEE YOU IN NOVEMBER 2012.