Controlling Medicare Costs -- Day Lee Briefing 8/28/2012
Aug 28, 2012
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
In a New York Times blog post last Friday, former Clinton Administration official Laura D’Andrea Tyson said that “when formulating public policy, evidence should be accorded more weight than ideology, and facts should matter more than shibboleths.” On that count, she’s right. But unfortunately for Tyson, the evidence shows that while liberal, top-down proposals to restructure Medicare – and the health care system – have failed, conservative proposals to introduce market forces into America’s failing entitlements could just succeed.
Tyson dismisses premium support proposals for Medicare, arguing that “the facts do not support” any conclusion that “competition would encourage more cost-sensitive behavior by beneficiaries, providers, and insurers.” Actually, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association just this month found that private plans would “bid an average of 9% below traditional Medicare costs” under a premium support model. That’s a savings of tens of billions of dollars – coming directly from the positive effects of competition.
Conversely, Tyson claims that because competition won’t reduce health costs, “enforceable payment and cost-containment reforms like those in [Obamacare] are necessary.” Those are the same payment reforms that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, in a January report analyzing dozens of Medicare demonstration programs over decades, said haven’t worked to contain costs:
The evaluations show that most programs have not reduced Medicare spending: In nearly every program involving disease management and care coordination, spending was either unchanged or increased relative to the spending that would have occurred in the absence of the program, when the fees paid to the participating organizations were considered….Demonstrations aimed at reducing spending and increasing quality of care face significant challenges in overcoming the incentives inherent in Medicare’s fee-for-service payment system, which rewards providers for delivering more care but does not pay them for coordinating with other providers, and in the nation’s decentralized health care delivery system, which does not facilitate communication or coordination among providers.
While the evidence is clear that Obamacare’s focus on payment reform has NOT worked to control costs, the signs for competition as a positive force slowing costs seem promising. Which means that if Tyson wants to be bound by evidence and not ideology, she has every reason to endorse premium support as opposed to an extension of the failed status quo.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
This article does a good job explaining my opposition to the UN's disability convention: http://ow.ly/cNANP
SenLeeComs
It's a mathematical certainty that Democrats' do-nothing plan will "end Medicare as we know it".
SenLeePressSec
@cstirewalt great seeing you today! We look forward to seeing the interview you did with @SenMikeLee!
SenLeeResearch
Feel robbed after every #grocery run? With so many #foodsdependent upon #corn, this chart explains a lot: http://bit.ly/ObAVxj #tcot#tlot
Around the Water Cooler
Solyndra investors could reap tax windfall
Two investment companies stand to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks under a bankruptcy exit plan for failed solar company Solyndra, government lawyers say.
White House Secrecy -- Day Lee Briefing 8/27/2012
Aug 27, 2012
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
Two articles in today’s Wall Street Journal illustrate how President Obama is putting politics before policy – deliberately failing to lead on tough fiscal choices to score cheap political points. One news article notes that the White House has put together a secret deficit reduction plan, which it refuses to release to the American people:
President Barack Obama's most recent budget…[did not] detail how to slow the growth of spending on Medicare or Social Security. Nor has Mr. Obama made public the details of proposals he made in unsuccessful talks with House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) last summer, such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67, a notion both Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan have endorsed.
Administration officials are preparing new deficit-reduction proposals to be released if Mr. Obama is re-elected, but see no political advantage in previewing them now, people familiar with the process said.
Likewise, an excellent editorial in this morning’s Journal about the Administration’s plans for top-down government health “reform” notes that the White House has refused to name individuals to Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board “until after the election.”
So we’ve gone from a world in which candidate Obama repeatedly promised that he would hold all the negotiations on C-SPAN to one in which tough choices are deliberately being withheld from the American people for political reasons, and a world in which the President’s pledge that “we are implementing” Obamacare right now doesn’t apply to the supposed centerpiece of its attempt to control costs – because of the backlash that exposing the law’s coercive nature would generate. Hope and change indeed.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
This article does a good job explaining my opposition to the UN's disability convention: http://ow.ly/cNANP
SenLeeComs
It's a mathematical certainty that Democrats' do-nothing plan will "end Medicare as we know it".
SenLeePressSec
Lee: I believe our best days as Americans are yet ahead of us#leetownhall
SenLeeResearch
How #ObamaCare creates incentives for employers to stop expanding and stop hiring: http://on.wsj.com/MSRYWa #jobs#unemployment #tcot #tlot
Around the Water Cooler
FCC eyes tax on Internet service
The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a proposal to tax broadband Internet service.
Lower Productivity Growth -- Day Lee Briefing 8/24/2012
Aug 24, 2012
Today’s Agenda
Today, Senator Lee will meet with the Sevier County’s commission, administrator, and business leaders.
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
The Congressional Budget Office released its updated economic forecasts, and the results reflect the Obama Administration’s “stewardship” of the economy. In the health care sector, CBO made some significant updates to its baseline, reflecting both economic and technical changes. With respect to the former, because economic productivity has lagged, and because most Medicare payment rates for hospitals and other providers are linked to “market-basket” updates of goods and services, CBO raised projected Medicare spending based on this economic factor. From page 52 of the report:
CBO’s current projections of productivity are lower than they were in its previous forecast, and its projected prices for goods and services (including the cost of both labor and non-labor inputs) are now higher. Consequently, CBO now anticipates higher payment rates for Medicare than it forecast in March, a change that raises projected outlays by $136 billion (or about 2 percent) over the 2013–2022 period. In the Medicaid program, higher projected prices for medical services and the cost of labor are also expected to boost spending, by $27 billion, between 2013 and 2022.
Admittedly, CBO made a larger downward adjustment ($169 billion) in projected Medicare spending, which it termed a technical adjustment to reflect the current slowdown in health spending. However, the Medicare actuary and others have said much of this slowdown is linked to the poorly recovering economy – which means spending could pick up whenever the economy fully recovers.
Either way, however, the report reflects an indictment on the Obama economy – lower productivity growth raising Medicare spending, offset only by people cutting back on health expenditures because they can’t afford to go to the doctor. That’s not evidence Obamacare is working – that’s evidence the “stimulus” didn’t.
A couple of other related points from the CBO report:
· According to the updated baseline, the federal government will in 2022 spend a total of $1.064 trillion on Medicare, and $592 billion on Medicaid (not counting the state share of Medicaid payments). The vast – and vastly increasing – amounts of money the federal government is spending on these programs makes the best case for comprehensive entitlement reform.
· The update projects the decade-long cost of a freeze in Medicare physician payments at $245 billion. If said legislation is not paid for, CBO estimates debt service payments on the $245 billion would total an additional $36 billion.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
This article does a good job explaining my opposition to the UN's disability convention: http://ow.ly/cNANP
SenLeeComs
Finally we see @SenateDems plan for deficit reduction: Recessionhttp://ow.ly/d9usY #MakingItWorse #fiscalcliff
SenLeePressSec
Lee: I believe our best days as Americans are yet ahead of us#leetownhall
SenLeeResearch
How #ObamaCare creates incentives for employers to stop expanding and stop hiring: http://on.wsj.com/MSRYWa #jobs#unemployment #tcot #tlot
Around the Water Cooler
Republicans could soon champion the protection of Internet Freedom as an official party issue, The Daily Caller has learned. Language in the final draft of the Internet freedom proposal was obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller.
Lawmaker questions Holder on abusing FBI travel privileges
Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican and the ranking GOP member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wants answers about whether Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and other senior Justice Department officials misused FBI aircraft, hindering the agency's investigations and ignoring a White House order to cut travel costs.
Richfield Town Hall -- Day Lee Briefing 8/23/2012
Aug 23, 2012
Today’s Agenda
Today, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of Washington County, Iron County, and Beaver County. He will also hold a town hall at the Sevier County Administration Building in Richfield. The meeting can be watched live online here.
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
Former Obama Administration Budget Director Peter Orszag published a Bloomberg op-ed this morning in which he criticized conservative proposals to introduce premium support in Medicare. He claims that the “private market tooth fairy” can’t cut costs – arguing that the Congressional Budget Office doubted this premise, and that any cost differentials between government-run Medicare and private plans would be based on private plans treating healthier patients than traditional Medicare.
Orszag claims that CBO said that the private plans in the House Republican premium support proposal would be more expensive for beneficiaries than traditional Medicare. But that’s only a quarter-truth, at best. First, Orszag admitted that he used an out-of-date 2011 CBO report to characterize the 2012 House Republican proposal; he claimed he did so because the 2011 CBO analysis “was the only one that CBO has evaluated in terms of total, not just federal, cost.”
That sleight-of-hand was bad enough – but there’s absolutely no excuse for Orszag’s other key omission, which is that CBO currently has no technical capacity to determine whether or not competition can help reduce health costs. A recent Health Matters column in CongressDaily (subscription required) pointed out this key flaw in CBO’s estimating models:
[CBO] Director Douglas Elmendorf told the House Budget Committee in 2011, his office doesn’t have the ability to account for any cost decreases (or increases, for that matter) that could come from competition between private plans. “We are not applying any additional effects of competition on this growth rate over time in our analysis of your proposal. And, again, we don’t have the tools, the analysis, we would need to do a quantitative evaluation of the importance of those factors,” Elmendorf said….
CBO’s current estimate puts the effects of competition at zero, which Gail Wilensky, a former head of Medicare and Medicaid in the George H.W. Bush administration, says is an even worse assumption than making some sort of educated guess. “You know it’s not zero, that’s the complete cop-out,” Wilensky said in an interview. “Their assumption is zero; it’s a very specific assumption, and it’s the one thing that’s definitely not accurate.”
Before joining the Obama Administration, Orszag served as Elmendorf’s predecessor as CBO Director. He knows that this lack of capacity on the effects of competition is a MAJOR hole in the organization’s technical capacities – in fact, one could assign him at least some responsibility for failing to develop those models during his time as CBO Director. Yet he mentioned none of this in the op-ed.
Instead, Orszag spent time criticizing the process of risk adjustment – in which plans with sicker-than-average beneficiaries receive higher payments than plans with healthier-than-average patients, to compensate the former for their higher costs and discourage plans from attempting to game the system. Orszag alleges that risk adjustment is imperfect – which is true – but goes on to say that risk adjustment is so imperfect that private plans could still undermine traditional Medicare by soliciting healthier patients, despite the risk adjustment methods in place. Orszag’s argument would sound slightly more genuine were it not for this paragraph included in Section 1343(b) of Obamacare:
(b) CRITERIA AND METHODS.—The Secretary, in consultation with States, shall establish criteria and methods to be used in carrying out the risk adjustment activities under this section. The Secretary may utilize criteria and methods similar to the criteria and methods utilized under part C or D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act. Such criteria and methods shall be included in the standards and requirements the Secretary prescribes under section 1321.
In other words, Obamacare explicitly grants HHS the authority to impose the risk adjustment methods currently being used in Medicare Advantage – the exact same methods that Orszag claims will undermine traditional Medicare. If those Medicare Advantage risk adjustment methods are so flawed, as Orszag claims, then why did the Obama Administration – of which Orszag himself was a member – permit them to be used in Obamacare Exchanges as well?
Orszag’s column got this much right – there is a “fairy” tale regarding premium support proposals. But the real fairy tale lies in the inconvenient truths Orszag himself was unable or unwilling to mention in his supposed critique.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
If you live near Richfield, you are invited to my town hall meeting tonight: http://ow.ly/d7MZs #utpol #leetownhall
SenLeeComs
In July, Dems said they'd be willing to cause a recession over something as measly as $80bn/yr in #tax increases http://ow.ly/d9w4T
SenLeePressSec
Lee in Washington City, UT: It's a lot more fun to be in this Washington than the other Washington #leetownhall #utpol
SenLeeResearch
.@SenMikeLee will host a town hall meeting tonight in Richfield. Watch live online here: http://on.fb.me/HLcq50 #LeeTownHall #tcot#tlot
Around the Water Cooler
Utah ranks as top pro-business state, report says
Another accolade for the Beehive State.
MarketWatch at the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday named Utah the “brightest star” on the American flag. Why? Pollina Corporate Real Estate ranked Utah at the top of its list of Ten Pro-Business States for 2012.
Jobless claims in U.S. climb for second week to one-month high
The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits climbed last week to a one-month high, showing little progress in the labor market.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow, Senator Lee will meet with the Sevier County’s commission, administrator, and business leaders.
Washington City Town Hall -- Day Lee Briefing 8/22/2012
Aug 22, 2012
Today’s Agenda
Today, Senator Lee will meet with Wayne County’s commissioners and mayors, Piute County’s commissioners and mayors, Garfield County’s commissioners, and Kane County’s commissioners. He will also hold a town hall meeting at the Washington City Community Center at 7:00 PM MDT (9:00 PM EDT). The meeting can be watched live online here.
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
The Congressional Budget Office released its updated economic forecasts this morning and, today as before, the results reflect the Obama Administration’s “stewardship” of the economy. In the health care sector, CBO made some significant updates to its baseline, reflecting both economic and technical changes. With respect to the former, because economic productivity has lagged, and because most Medicare payment rates for hospitals and other providers are linked to “market-basket” updates of goods and services, CBO raised projected Medicare spending based on this economic factor. From page 52 of the report:
CBO’s current projections of productivity are lower than they were in its previous forecast, and its projected prices for goods and services (including the cost of both labor and non-labor inputs) are now higher. Consequently, CBO now anticipates higher payment rates for Medicare than it forecast in March, a change that raises projected outlays by $136 billion (or about 2 percent) over the 2013–2022 period. In the Medicaid program, higher projected prices for medical services and the cost of labor are also expected to boost spending, by $27 billion, between 2013 and 2022.
Admittedly, CBO made a larger downward adjustment ($169 billion) in projected Medicare spending, which it termed a technical adjustment to reflect the current slowdown in health spending. However, the Medicare actuary and others have said much of this slowdown is linked to the poorly recovering economy – which means spending could pick up whenever the economy fully recovers.
Either way, however, the report reflects an indictment on the Obama economy – lower productivity growth raising Medicare spending, offset only by people cutting back on health expenditures because they can’t afford to go to the doctor. That’s not evidence Obamacare is working – that’s evidence the “stimulus” didn’t.
A couple of other related points from the CBO report:
· According to the updated baseline, the federal government will in 2022 spend a total of $1.064 trillion on Medicare, and $592 billion on Medicaid (not counting the state share of Medicaid payments). The vast – and vastly increasing – amounts of money the federal government is spending on these programs makes the best case for comprehensive entitlement reform.
· The update projects the decade-long cost of a freeze in Medicare physician payments at $245 billion. If said legislation is not paid for, CBO estimates debt service payments on the $245 billion would total an additional $36 billion.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
If you live in the Washington County area, you are invited to my town hall meeting tonight in Washington City: http://ow.ly/d7MQ8 #utpol
SenLeeComs
It's a mathematical certainty that Democrats' do-nothing plan will "end Medicare as we know it".
SenLeePressSec
RELEASE: @SenMikeLee pleased Verizon-Spectrum Co will be approved http://bit.ly/MCuUdi #utpol #judiciary
SenLeeResearch
How #ObamaCare creates incentives for employers to stop expanding and stop hiring: http://on.wsj.com/MSRYWa #jobs#unemployment #tcot #tlot
Around the Water Cooler
Europe’s leaders face post-holiday blues
After their holidays spent soaking up the August sun, Europe’s political leaders are bracing themselves for storm clouds this fall.
The latest economic figures show that Europe is edging closer to recession, dragged down by the crippling debt problems of the 17 countries that use the euro.
Labor Department spends stimulus funds for ads during Olbermann, Maddow shows
The Labor Department paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus funds to a public relations firm to run more than 100 commercials touting the Obama administration’s “green training” job efforts on two MSNBC cable shows, records show.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of Washington County, Iron County, and Beaver County. He will also hold a town hall at the Sevier County Administration Building in Richfield.
Handouts for Insurance Companies -- Day Lee Briefing 8/21/2012
Aug 21, 2012
Today’s Agenda
Today, Senator Lee is meeting with representatives of the Utah Defense Alliance, South Jordan, and the Bureau of Land Management.
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
Speaking on Face the Nation yesterday, Center for American Progress CEO Neera Tanden claimed that Obamacare “is a massive tax cut for – in health care. It's a six-hundred-billion-dollar tax cut for health care. It's a tax cut to middle-class families.” Tanden’s claims to the contrary, the law and record are very clear about the fact that this massive new entitlement will go straight into the pockets of the insurance industry:
· Section 1412(c)(2)(A) of the law provides that “The Secretary of the Treasury shall make the advance payment under this section of any premium tax credit allowed under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to the issuer of a qualified health plan on a monthly basis.”
· Page 37 of the report on the Finance Committee bill states: “The Committee Bill provides a refundable tax credit for eligible individuals and families who purchase health insurance through the state exchanges. The premium tax credit, which is refundable and payable in advance directly to the insurer, subsidizes the purchase of certain health insurance plans through the state exchanges.”
Even liberal professor Jonathan Gruber – a paid Obamacare consultant – admitted in an interview that “Most households will never actually get their hands on the credits, so their existing tax liabilities won’t actually change. In most cases, credits will go straight to insurance companies, to pay for health benefits.” And according to CBO’s updated estimates, Obamacare will now provide over $1 trillion in spending on subsidies, which will go directly into the pockets of insurance companies.
Of course, candidate Obama opposed sending subsidies straight to insurance companies when he ran for President. An Obama campaign ad derided Senator McCain’s proposal to subsidize insurance through tax credits: “That tax credit? McCain’s own Web site said it goes straight to the insurance companies, not to you, leaving you on your own...” Likewise, in a campaign speech, candidate Obama vilified Senator McCain for this policy: “But the new tax credit [McCain’s] proposing? That wouldn’t go to you. It would go directly to your insurance company – not your bank account.”
In making her false claims that middle class families – as opposed to insurance companies – would actually receive these tax cuts, Tanden contradicted both the words of candidate Obama – on whose 2008 campaign she worked – and someone who has written multiple papers for the organization she leads. It’s unfortunate that Obamacare supporters feel the need to twist the facts in such a blatantly obvious manner to try to gin up support for their unpopular health care law.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
This article does a good job explaining my opposition to the UN's disability convention: http://ow.ly/cNANP
SenLeeComs
.@robportman: The Regulatory Cliff Is Nearly as Steep as the Fiscal One - @WSJ http://ow.ly/d2MAr
SenLeePressSec
RELEASE: @SenMikeLee pleased Verizon-Spectrum Co will be approved http://bit.ly/MCuUdi #utpol #judiciary
SenLeeResearch
@kc135guy Thanks, that's some great info. We keep a close eye on the #Fed and support significant monetary reform: http://bit.ly/I2ytVG
Around the Water Cooler
The price of oil resumed its upward climb Tuesday, spurred by gains on Wall Street and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might take action to spark the sluggish recovery.
White House sets ground rules for local interviews
The White House is doing something with its local TV interviews that it could not easily get away with in encounters with the White House press corps, which President Obama has been studiously ignoring: choosing the topic about which President Obama and the reporter will talk.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow, Senator Lee will meet with Wayne County’s commissioners and mayors, Piute County’s commissioners and mayors, Garfield County’s commissioners, and Kane County’s commissioners. He will also hold a town hall meeting at the Washington City Community Center at 7:00 PM MDT (9:00 PM EDT).
The Empty Independent Payment Advisory Board -- Day Lee Briefing 8/20/2012
Aug 20, 2012
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
Speaking on Fox News Sunday yesterday, Robert Gibbs was challenged about the composition of Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB. He said that the IPAB would be composed of “medical professionals. They are people that we trust to make medical decisions.”
Actually, that statement is FALSE. Obamacare specifically states that practicing medical professionals may NOT comprise the majority of the IPAB’s membership – meaning economists and other potential bean-counters will by definition maintain a majority voting share on the board. Here’s the specific language from page 423 of the statute (emphasis mine):
(iii) MAJORITY NONPROVIDERS.—Individuals who are directly involved in the provision or management of the delivery of items and services covered under this title shall not constitute a majority of the appointed membership of the Board.
Of course, if Gibbs – and by extension the Obama campaign – want to argue that the IPAB’s members will be thoroughly respected, then President Obama could actually follow the law and appoint IPAB nominees. According to page 426 of the statute, the law appropriates funds for IPAB (originally $15 million, but lowered to $5 million last December) “for fiscal year 2012” – that’s the fiscal year ending this September 30. So Obamacare contemplates IPAB being up and running NOW – yet President Obama has failed to nominate any appointees to the board. If the President wants to save Medicare so badly – and IPAB is so critical to saving Medicare – what’s he waiting for? And if IPAB is so innocuous and won’t harm seniors, why is he waiting until AFTER his re-election campaign to announce who he wants to put on the board?
Given the massive powers of the IPAB officials – the rulings of these bureaucrats will be exempt from both administrative AND judicial review – there’s a good government argument to be made that the American people should have full knowledge of who these powerful people will be BEFORE they make their choice in November. Of course, given this Administration’s history of radical appointees – i.e., Donald “Rationing with Our Eyes Open” Berwick – it’s entirely likely that the Administration does NOT want to tell the American people exactly who will be supervising the Medicare program under IPAB’s new world order.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
The last time the Senate's Democrat majority passed a budget, the iPad did not yet exist: http://youtu.be/2fMfwDm6w18
SenLeeComs
Obama talking about reducing the deficit and debt. *shakes head* His own budget ADDS $11 trillion to the debt.
SenLeePressSec
RELEASE: @SenMikeLee pleased Verizon-Spectrum Co will be approved http://bit.ly/MCuUdi #utpol #judiciary
SenLeeResearch
@kc135guy Thanks, that's some great info. We keep a close eye on the #Fed and support significant monetary reform: http://bit.ly/I2ytVG
Around the Water Cooler
Summertime blues for drivers: Gas at August record
You may pay more than ever for a late-summer drive.
U.S. drivers paid an average of $3.72 per gallon on Monday. That's the highest price ever on this date, according to auto club AAA, a shade above the $3.717 average on Aug. 20, 2008. A year ago, the average was $3.578.
Study: Red states more charitable
Red states give more money to charity than blue states, according to a new study on Monday.
The eight states with residents who gave the highest share of their income to charity supported Sen. John McCain in 2008, while the seven states with the least generous residents went for President Barack Obama, the Chronicle of Philanthropy found in its new survey of tax data from the IRS for 2008.
Lee Pleased Verizon-Spectrum Co Will Be Approved
Aug 17, 2012
WASHINGTON—Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights subcommittee, today released the following statement in regards to the Department of Justice’s approval of agreements between Verizon, Comcast, and three other cable companies:
"Vigorous competition is essential to consumer welfare in the wireless and cable markets. I'm pleased that the Verizon-Spectrum Co transaction is moving forward. As my letter to the FCC and DOJ outlined, I believe this deal is primarily procompetitive and will benefit consumers by putting previously fallow spectrum to efficient use, expanding consumer choice through the introduction of a new bundled offering, and spurring innovation in the development of new technologies and products."
Communications Director
Brian Phillips
Brian_Phillips@lee.senate.gov
202-224-5444
Press Secretary
Emily Bennion
Emily_Bennion@lee.senate.gov
202-224-3904
Spending Medicare Savings -- Day Lee Briefing 8/16/2012
Aug 16, 2012
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
Politifact this afternoon issued a “ruling” calling Mostly False a statement that Obamacare utilized Medicare funds to pay for its coverage expansions. The Politifact piece claims – correctly – that other Presidents have signed laws reducing Medicare spending, and that therefore claims about Obamacare’s impact on Medicare are overblown. However, there’s a BIG difference between those prior laws and Obamacare – Obamacare used Medicare savings to pay for more government spending. On that count, there is near universal agreement that’s exactly what the law did:
· The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said that the Medicare reductions in Obamacare “will not enhance the ability of the government to pay for future Medicare benefits” – because those savings will be used to fund other unsustainable entitlements. If Democrats want to use the Medicare savings provisions to extend the life of the Medicare trust fund – and not to fund the new entitlements created by the law – the Congressional Budget Office previously estimated what the fiscal impact would be: “A net increase in federal deficits of $260 billion” through 2019.
· Likewise, the Medicare actuary has written that the Medicare provisions in the law “cannot be simultaneously used to finance other Federal outlays (such as the coverage expansions under the PPACA) and to extend the [Medicare] trust fund, despite the appearance of this result from the respective accounting conventions.”
· Back in November, even Nancy Pelosi admitted that Democrats “took a half a trillion dollars out of Medicare in [Obamacare], the health care bill” to pay for more federal spending.
President Obama himself admitted the problems with Obamacare’s supposed logic in a 2010 interview, when he stated that “You can’t say that you are saving on Medicare and then spending the money twice.” Yet that’s EXACTLY what the law did – and no amount of spin can change that fact.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
The last time the Senate's Democrat majority passed a budget, the iPad did not yet exist: http://youtu.be/2fMfwDm6w18
SenLeeComs
GOP Budget leaders say lack of Senate budget a failure of 'moral leadership' http://ow.ly/cSUYu @BudgetGOP #3YearsNoBudget
SenLeePressSec
Working from our SLC office today! If I worked here permanently, I fear all of my money would be spent at City Creek during lunch breaks.
SenLeeResearch
@kc135guy Thanks, that's some great info. We keep a close eye on the #Fed and support significant monetary reform: http://bit.ly/I2ytVG
Around the Water Cooler
US government’s foreign debt hits record $5.29 trillion
The money the U.S. government owes to foreign entities rose to a record $5.2923 trillion in June, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury Wednesday afternoon.
ObamaCare's Deals with Big Pharma -- Day Lee Briefing 8/15/2012
Aug 15, 2012
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
The Hill reports this afternoon that several major pharmacies “will promote [Obamacare]…to seniors,” providing brochures about all the law’s supposed new benefits. In a conference call announcing the program, CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner refused to give a straight answer to the question about whether the pharmacies came up with the idea for the program, or the Administration proposed it – strongly suggesting that the Obama Administration proposed this idea to pharmacies as yet another propaganda effort to win support for their unpopular law.
One unanswered question remains: Will these pharmacies also educate seniors about the law’s cuts to Medicare Advantage – which will cut enrollment in Medicare Advantage in half and reduce plan choices by two-thirds? Or does the Administration’s call for seniors to be able to “make informed healthcare decisions” only apply to the information the Administration wants seniors to see?
It’s perhaps not surprising that pharmacies would look to advertise Big Pharma’s “rock-solid deal” struck behind closed doors with President Obama – after all, pharmacies have the same financial incentives to sell more brand-name prescriptions that Big Pharma companies do. However, the more than 17 million seniors participating in Medicare Part D who are facing higher premiums thanks to this “rock-solid deal” may not be so happy.
On Twitter
SenMikeLee
This article does a good job explaining my opposition to the UN's disability convention: http://ow.ly/cNANP
SenLeeComs
Axelrod v. Cutter on Medicare http://ow.ly/cYd3k Romney's "lying" but Cutter said the same thing
SenLeePressSec
Just arrived in beautiful Salt Lake City! So good to be back! #Utah
SenLeeResearch
How #ObamaCare creates incentives for employers to stop expanding and stop hiring: http://on.wsj.com/MSRYWa #jobs#unemployment #tcot #tlot
Around the Water Cooler
More than a million work in tax prep
Up to 1.2 million tax preparers make a living navigating the labyrinth US tax code for taxpayers. We have more professional tax preparers in the United States than law enforcement officers (765,000) and professional firefighters (310,400) combined.
Economic recovery is weakest since WWII
The recession that ended three years ago this summer has been followed by the feeblest economic recovery since the Great Depression.
