The reason Obama’s focus on bringing down costs makes more sense than a focus on universal coverage at any price, cast in sharp relief by the Government’s appointed watchdog:
“Future growth in spending per beneficiary for Medicare and Medicaid—the federal government’s major health care programs—will be the most important determinant of long-term trends in federal spending. Changing those programs in ways that reduce the growth of costs—which will be difficult, in part because of the complexity of health policy choices—is ultimately the nation’s central long-term challenge in setting federal fiscal policy. The bulk of the projected increase in health care spending reflects higher costs per beneficiary rather than an increase in the number of beneficiaries associated with an aging population.”
-Peter R. Orszag, CBO Director, in 6/18/08 Congressional testimony
Full document:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/93xx/doc9385/06-17-LTBO_Testimony.pdf
