10 Things to Say to an Obama Voter Who Just Got Laid Off ...

[Ricter]

Quote from nutmeg:

"A new Congressional Budget Office report out last week has the healthcare world scratching its head

Hmnnn..they removed spending projections out of the budget..what budget is that? We don't have a budget.

If we don't have a budget, how does anyone know there is a deficit?

We have a budget.

 

[Lucrum]

Quote from Ricter:


We have a budget.

Do tell.

 

[pspr]

Quote from Ricter:

If we don't have a budget, how does anyone know there is a deficit?

We have a budget.

The same as when you don't have a budget at home and you spend more than comes in from your paycheck.

Your bank sends you a piece of paper saying you are overdrawn and better get your ass down to the bank and cover all the fees you've just been charged.

In the government's case it's the Treasury.

 

[Max E.]

Quote from Ricter:

If we don't have a budget, how does anyone know there is a deficit?

We have a budget.

If i spend everything that i make, and rack up all my credit cards, and then at the end of the year i get a statement telling me how much i spent, does that mean i had a budget?

 

[CaptainObvious]

Quote from Ricter:

If we don't have a budget, how does anyone know there is a deficit?

We have a budget.

When you continually spend more than you take in, and somehow manage to stay afloat, you really don't have a budget, you have a shell game. Works till it don't.

 

[tomdavis]

Quote from Ricter:

New Data Suggests Obamacare Is Actually Bending The Healthcare Cost Curve

Op/Ed 2/12/2013 @ 9:12AM

"A new Congressional Budget Office report out last week has the healthcare world scratching its head over the possibility that Obamacare might—in part—be responsible for what is being described as a significant slowdown in the growth of healthcare costs in America.

"According to the report, hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending for Medicare and Medicaid are being removed from government projections as federal healthcare spending is now expected to be full 15 percent less than what had been initially budgeted for 2012. The surprisingly low spending projections come as the growth in healthcare spending has hit a new low for the fourth consecutive year.

"To be sure, a big part of the decline in healthcare spending is the result of the recession’s impact on people’s ability to lay out cash on health related expenditures. Indeed, up until this point, most analysts have agreed that the poor economy was pretty much the sole cause for the improvement we have seen in containing the explosion of healthcare spending.

"Now, experts are beginning to recognize that the Affordable Care Act may, in fact, be contributing to the good news—a significant development as bending the cost curve was a primary goal of Obamacare.

"Douglas Elmendorf, Director of the CBO, noted that while much of the savings are the result of a loss of wealth due to the recession. But, for the first time, Elmendorf was willing to say that a ‘significant part’ of the savings are the result of structural change in how healthcare is now being delivered.

"While the new data suggests that some of the changes in how providers are paid for delivering healthcare began—and were having a positive impact—prior to passage of Obamacare, the ACA codifies these changes in payment procedures for physicians and hospitals, taking what now appears to be programs that are slowing the growth in costs and applying them to all providers throughout the nation.

"Importantly, the slowdown in the cost of care is happening in both the overall rate of spending and government spending. Writes Annie Lowrey in the New York Times—

“The slowdown has occurred in both government and overall health spending. From 2009 to 2011, total health spending grew at the lowest annual pace since the government started keeping records 52 years ago, a trend that seems to have continued last year. In the 2012 fiscal year, Medicare spending per beneficiary grew just 0.4 percent. The new Congressional Budget Office data said that overall Medicare outlays grew 3 percent in 2012, the slowest rate since 2000.”

"The multi-billion dollar question is whether this positive trend will continue as we have seen slowdowns in the past only to see the curve explode upwards after a pause.

"The answer to that question matters as Lowrey reports—

“Slower cost growth would have ramifications far beyond the deficit. According to calculations by White House economists, slowing the annual growth rate of health care costs by 1.5 percentage points might increase economic output by 2 percent in 2020 and 8 percent in 2030. It might also lead to higher wages for workers and more room for productive investments in the budget.”

"While we can expect the Obamacare bashers to pour cold water on this good news, there is no denying that the law is paying some dividends in the critically important effort to bend the cost curve in healthcare delivery.

"Could this be enough to open people up to contemplating that there may just be other good news to come thanks to health care reform?"

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...s-actually-bending-the-healthcare-cost-curve/

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-27-07-01-19


STUDY: HEALTH LAW TO RAISE CLAIMS COST 32 PERCENT
BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
ASSOCIATED PRESS



The estimates from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a political headache for the Obama administration at a time when much of the country remains skeptical of the Affordable Care Act.

The administration is questioning the study, saying it doesn't give a full picture - and costs will go down.

Actuaries are financial risk professionals who conduct long-range cost estimates for pension plans, insurance companies and government programs.

The study says claims costs will go up largely because sicker people will join the insurance pool. That's because the law forbids insurers from turning down those with pre-existing medical problems, effective Jan. 1. Everyone gets sick sooner or later, but sicker people also use more health care services.

"Claims cost is the most important driver of health care premiums," said Kristi Bohn, an actuary who worked on the study. Spending on sicker people and other high-cost groups will overwhelm an influx of younger, healthier people into the program, said the report.

*****************************

If you increase the demand for healthcare without increasing the supply of healthcare, costs will increase.

******************************

Here's another side effect:

Study: Nearly A Third Of Doctors Won't See New Medicaid Patients

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Sto...-Of-Medicaid-Doctors-Say-No-New-Patients.aspx

 

[Ricter]

Quote from Max E. Pad:

If i spend everything that i make, and rack up all my credit cards, and then at the end of the year i get a statement telling me how much i spent, does that mean i had a budget?

Yes. Your credit limit set the upper limit on your spending. Your income was constrained as well. It's not a formal budget, but it is a de facto budget.

 

[Max E.]

Quote from Ricter:

Yes. Your credit limit set the upper limit on your spending. Your income was constrained as well. It's not a formal budget, but it is a de facto budget.

Well there ya go then we dont have a budget.

 

[Ricter]

Quote from Max E. Pad:

Well there ya go then we dont have a budget.

Yes, we do, it's a de facto (actually, the BCA of 2011 is de jure) budget. Republicans cite it often when they're trying to block spending they don't like.

 

[RCG Trader]

Quote from Ricter:

Yes, we do, it's a de facto (actually, the BCA of 2011 is de jure) budget. Republicans cite it often when they're trying to block spending they don't like.

+1