Associated Press Responds, Defends $1.5 Trillion Health Care Price Tag
In response to my questions, a spokesman for the Associated Press sends over an explanation for why the news org keeps claiming the House Dems’ health care package will cost $1.5 trillion, when the Congressional Budget Office estimates $1 trillion. But the AP doesn’t address the core problem here: That it keeps portraying its price tag as a matter of fact, rather than as a matter of dispute.
Health care reform foes have been reciting the AP number as scripture today, and the AP has been taking a pounding in the blogosphere for repeating the number, because it could negatively impact the policy debate. Here’s AP spokesperson Paul Colford’s explanation:
The Congressional Budget Office score of $1.04 trillion that the Democrats cite is the figure for the new health insurance “exchange.”
However, that is a net figure, including about $237 billion in revenue raised from employer and individual mandates — fees paid by those who don’t provide or purchase care. Thus, if you look at costs, the score on that is about $1.27 trillion.
There is also a separate piece of the bill covering Medicare. It includes about $350 billion in new spending (the biggest single piece is for the so-called “doc fix,” which involves the payment rate to doctors under Medicare).
But again, the problem is that we don’t yet know what the bill will cost in the end. Estimates differ. House Dems argue that it’s reckless to assign a hard and fast cost before the CBO has completed its score. Yet the AP keeps describing the bill as a “$1.5 trillion plan,” without registering the Dem objection — and without including the CBO’s initial analysis.
Even if you agree that the bill is likely to cost this in the end, it’s still reckless of the AP to keep treating this number as established fact, when it simply isn’t any such thing.
Update: The Associated Press provides an even more detailed breakdown of its $1.5 trillion price tag.
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Would have been nice to see the AP do math like this for the war in Iraq.
The way Greg writes about the health care reform bill proposed in the House you might think that we spend $1 trillion and the thing is paid for. No way! He’s quibbling about only the first ten years of the reform and he’s missing the forrest for the trees. Reform has two broad goals: cover the uninsured and reduce long term costs so that health spending doesn’t swamp the federal budget in the years to come. Why get worried about $1 trillion versus $1.5 trillion when the real problem is that over the longer term this bill INCREASES health care costs? And that’s what the head of the CBO says:
“The health care overhauls released to date would increase, not reduce, the burgeoning long-term health costs facing the government, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf said Thursday . . . In the legislation that has been reported, we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount and, on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs,” he said. Elmendorf was not addressing the narrow question of whether the Democrats’ legislation would be budget-neutral over 10 years . . . But budget analysts and some members fear the legislation will not slow the growth of health care spending enough to prevent it from overwhelming the federal budget after that 10-year window . . . Elmendorf said that CBO has not completed its evaluation of the House plan, but what it has seen so far does not represent “the sort of fundamental change, the order of magnitude necessary to offset the direct increase in federal health costs from the insurance coverage proposals.”
And if anyone is out there listening, could someone please tell me how this impacts health care costs we incur for undocumented immigrants? I’m not sure how we can control health care costs if we continue to allow millions to go uninsured.
Everyone needs to see that our Gov. is quickly taking over every aspect of our lives, taking away our freedom of choice by creating issues with money and debt. It will take a few years but the general public will have no more choices, Big Brother will be able to do whatever they want. Look into the future. Most people were all blinded with the bailouts look what that did? Nothing for me or anyone I know. Health care is stage 2. Soon we will all be paying without any choices. Free market is what keeps prices down, not a monopoly, Don’t people remember the game? This is no game. America was based on ability to choose and freedom of speech. There is very little on the public news about any of the important topics and these issues should be our priority, where is the news coverage? Blogs what a joke These issues should be front page of everything we see. Our public media is hiding the truth. The health care package is 1000 pages. Who read it? What does it say? Why is it so long? Simple answer it is another snowball. People need to stop being petty about the little issues (who gets what) and wake up to what is really going on in America. We are about to go down a bad road. It may take a few years but we are on a downward spiral. Wake up America to the real issue. Who cares 1 trillion or 1.5 trillion. Come on!!!Insurance is bull S%^$, medical industry bull s%^$, and Big Brother is bull s$$$. Can’t you see they are all in this together. Where are the educated people? Voice your opinion!