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Is the health care law already running a deficit?
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.): “The original estimate for deficit reduction in the first 10 years was $143 billion, correct?”
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: “Yes–”
Johnson: “So now we, we’ve reduced that $143 billion by $86 billion – by not getting revenue from the CLASS Act – and now $111 billion because we’ve increased the mandatory costs of the exchanges, correct?”
Sebelius: “I’m assuming the numbers are correct. I’m sorry I don’t have them.”
Johnson: “So, when you add those together, that’s $197 billion added to the first 10-year cost estimate of Obamacare, so now we are instead of saving $143 billion, we are adding $54 billion to our deficit, correct?”
Sebelius: “Sir, I –”
Johnson: “We’ll submit that to the record. But, that’s basically true. So instead of saving $143 billion, by this administration’s own figures and budget, we’re now adding $54 billion to our deficit in the first 10 years.”
— Exchange during congressional hearing, March 7, 2012
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: “Yes–”
Johnson: “So now we, we’ve reduced that $143 billion by $86 billion – by not getting revenue from the CLASS Act – and now $111 billion because we’ve increased the mandatory costs of the exchanges, correct?”
Sebelius: “I’m assuming the numbers are correct. I’m sorry I don’t have them.”
Johnson: “So, when you add those together, that’s $197 billion added to the first 10-year cost estimate of Obamacare, so now we are instead of saving $143 billion, we are adding $54 billion to our deficit, correct?”
Sebelius: “Sir, I –”
Johnson: “We’ll submit that to the record. But, that’s basically true. So instead of saving $143 billion, by this administration’s own figures and budget, we’re now adding $54 billion to our deficit in the first 10 years.”
— Exchange during congressional hearing, March 7, 2012
At WashingtonPost.com, Glenn Kessler c[link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/is-the-health-care-law-already-running-a-deficit/2012/03/12/gIQArxEF8R_blog.html|riticized] statements in an exchange between Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Secy. of HHS Kathleen Sibelius:
...Johnson made a mistake in trying to update a two-year-old estimate with a few new numbers, rather than start afresh. He also mixed up different time frames and estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget.
The $143 billion deficit-reduction estimate was for the 2010-2019 time frame. Johnson then subtracts $86 billion because the administration canceled a long-term-care program known as the CLASS Act, leaving just $57 billion in deficit reduction. But his math is wrong because the $86-billion figure comes from an estimate with a different time frame (2012-2021)
Comparing apples to apples (ie, the 2012-2021 time frame), Johnson needed to subtract the $86 billion from a ten-year deficit estimate of $210 billion, leaving $124 billion in deficit reduction.
