General Discussion

ErikJ

(6,335 posts) Wed Nov 20, 2013, 02:50 PM Nov 2013

Bush's Medicare Part D was far more expensive than the Affordable Care Act and.... never budgeted

Politifact ruling on this claim : Mostly True
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Via email, Krugman told us, "Not sure about what ‘never budgeted’ means, or exactly how ‘more expensive’ is defined. But the ACA designated cost savings and revenues to pay for the outlays; Part D just specified outlays with no offset."

Krugman gives a different measure in his late-2009 blog entry: "According to the Medicare trustees, Part D created a $9.4 trillion unfunded liability over the next 75 years." The trustees’ 2013 report updated that estimate to $9.2 trillion for 2013-2087.

A June 17, 2013, PolitiFact Virginia fact-check showed that January 2013 Government Accountability Office estimates of the Obamacare law’s cost over 75 years could result in two scenarios: It could raise the national debt $6.2 trillion if its cost containment measures were phased out, or it could save the government $13.3 trillion if it works as intended. A GAO analyst said the report did not say whether one outcome or the other is more likely.

Our ruling

The image shared on Facebook said, "Bush’s Medicare D was far more expensive than the Affordable Care Act, and, unlike the ACA, was never budgeted."

It’s a vague claim without context. Looking for a reasonable way to evaluate it, we found the Obamacare law was "funded" and Part D "unfunded" and that, using estimated 10-year costs at inception, the former was projected to save $148 billion and the latter to cost something under $501 billion (in 2013 dollars).

We rate the claim as Mostly True.

http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2013/nov/18/facebook-posts/obamacare-law-was-funded-and-expected-save-billion/