The Budget Debate and Health Reform

Individual Mandate Delay Would Mean Millions More Uninsured, Higher Premiums

House Republicans attached a one-year delay of health reform’s individual mandate — which will require most Americans to obtain health coverage or pay a penalty starting in 2014 — to a Senate-passed bill to fund the government in fiscal year 2014.

Such a delay would adversely affect millions of Americans.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that it would cause 11 million more Americans to remain uninsured in 2014 and result in higher premiums for many others. It also would disrupt the new health insurance exchanges just as the open enrollment season is about to begin. Read more

Greenstein in Politico: Despite Claims, Obamacare Gives Congress No Special Treatment

Some health reform opponents claim the Obama administration is giving members of Congress and their staffs special treatment under the Affordable Care Act.

The claim, which a number of media stories have repeated uncritically, is simply false: Although they will be required to enroll in health plans offered within the new health-insurance exchanges established under the law, members of Congress and their staffs will not receive extra financial help to pay for their medical care. Read more

Excise Tax on Medical Devices Should Not Be Repealed

House Republicans  attached to a Senate-passed funding bill for fiscal year 2014 a provision to repeal the 2.3-percent excise tax on medical devices that policymakers enacted in 2010 to help pay for health reform.  The excise tax is sound, however, and the arguments against the tax don’t withstand scrutiny.

The tax does not single out the medical device industry for unfair treatment. The tax will not cause manufacturers to shift production overseas. The tax will have little effect on innovation in the medical device industry.  Read more

Argument for One-Year Delay of Health Reform Riddled with Flaws

In an effort by health reform’s opponents to defund, unravel, or delay the law, House Republicans attached to a Senate-passed bill to fund the government in fiscal year 2014 a one-year delay of health reform.

We should see the push for a one-year delay, buttressed by misleading and inaccurate arguments and the selective use or omission of relevant data, for what it is:  a core element of an effort to impede and ultimately dismember health reform so that it never comes to pass.  Read more

Related:

• Let's Stop Using Bogus Comparisons of Health Insurance Premiums to Throw Darts at Health Reform

More: Federal Budget Analyses