Welcome to Buster's Blog

Irregular commentary on whatever's on my mind -- politics, sports, current events, and life in general. After twenty years of writing business and community newsletters, fifteen years of fantasy baseball newsletters, and two years of email "columns", this is, I suppose, the inevitable result: the awful conceit that someone might actually care to read what I have to say. Posts may be added often, rarely, or never again. As always, my mood and motivation are unpredictable.

Buster Gammons















Monday, March 13, 2017

The CBO Weighs In


The Congressional Budget Office provides impartial, nonpartisan analysis of government legislation.  During his campaign, Trumpistopheles often cited the CBO to bolster whatever hateful point he was making at the moment.

Today the CBO released its assessment of Paul Ryan's American Health Care Act, the GOP's Obamacare replacement plan.  The CBO says the Ryan plan means 24 million Americans would lose health care coverage over the next ten years.  It also says the Ryan plan would reduce the federal deficit by more than $300 billion over the same time frame.

Previously, the CBO said that the ACA/Obamacare had likewise been reducing the deficit and would continue to reduce it by more than $300 billion by 2025.

It's instructive to look at how each approach trims the deficit by roughly the same amount.

  • The ACA/Obamacare reduces the deficit by slowing the rate of growth in health care spending, and by increased revenue (taxes) to fund the law.  It does it through improved fraud control, and by building a bigger, better, smarter health care delivery system.  (The ACA illustrates a case when bigger is indeed better.  Our uninsured rate is at an all-time low.  The everybody-into-the-pool mandate is the essence of the group policy advantage, and is actuarily wise.  It works.)
  • The ACHA/Ryan Plan reduces the deficit by drastically cutting premium support to individuals, by allowing individuals to stupidly go without coverage, and by kicking a shitload of poor people off of Medicaid.  It's the polar opposite of the group policy mentality.

Both approaches cut some costs.  But only one method will leave 24 million people in the lurch.  Of the two, which do you prefer?

The ACHA/Ryan Plan is immoral.  Please speak out to your members of Congress.

Trump's reaction to the CBO report?  Pay no attention to the CBO.  The CBO is wrong.  The CBO is fake news.

Bullshit!  We have a fake POTUS and an evil Congressional majority.






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1 comment:

  1. Joe ToddMarch 14, 2017 at 9:59 AM

    It's more than meets the eye::: The secret G.O.P. plan to “save” Social Security:: “According to the C.B.O. report, the bill would make health insurance so unaffordable for many older Americans that they would simply leave the market and join the ranks of the uninsured.” It’s so simple you might miss it. No insurance for “Older Americans.” “Older Americans” simply die much sooner than they would if they had health coverage. Hence, millions fewer Americans getting Social Security benefits. This is to say the least a stroke of genius from P. Ryan.

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