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First Hearing on Health Care: CBO Scoring |
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As mentioned yesterday, we’ve moving from step 1 to step 2 in our steps to win health care for all. The formal mark of that turning point (and the beginning of the legislation process) is happening tomorrow morning at 10:00 am, when the Senate Finance Committee (one of the two committees with jurisdiction over health care in the Senate) will have its first hearing of the Congressional session on health care reform.
The topic? “Scoring Health Care Reform: CBO’s Budget Options.”
What does that mean? Well…
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) “scores” every piece of pending legislation, estimating its effect on the national budget. These numbers can be useful guides to lawmakers when weighing legislative option, but these numbers can also be used for misinformation in the wrong hands.
The CBO’s score of health care legislation will be important. We at Health Care for America Now (as well as the other policy experts in the arena) are confident we will see long term costs savings if we pass Obama’s (and HCAN’s) health care plan, as shown in the chart below from the Center for Economic and Policy Research:
But, that savings might not become apparent for years.
So, on what time frame the CBO scores health care legislation will be important to the public relations battle around the bill. If the CBO scores on a short time frame - say, five years - we will see opponents of health care reform (mostly conservatives who’ve suddenly got religion about “fiscal responsibility”) running around shouting that health care reform will cost us billions. If the CBO scores the bill on a longer time frame - say 10 years or more - cost savings can be taken into account, and the total price tag will be lower.
The way the CBO scores specific policy points will also impact the final tally. For example, how the CBO takes into account things like a public health insurance option will greatly change the final numbers.
Of course, health care is going to require an upfront investment. We know this, and no CBO scoring tricks will reduce this. That’s ok - the public understands that we need to fix the health care crisis and we may need to spend money up front to do it. Still, the details of CBO scoring of health care legislation will be important.
The Senate Finance Committee will be having the hearing on this tomorrow. If you have a moment, send them a message and thank them for getting to work so quickly, and let them know you’re watching the outcome with baited breath.
(also posted at the NOW! blog)
