The TRUE Cost of Health Care Reform

Charles - I agree, Enough is Enough!  I'm hoping the TEA party movement continues to gains strength, and we see a massive change (70% is my dream #) across the board.  One thing many on the liberal side do not want to admit to is that fully 35% of those attending TEA parties state they are Democrats.  There is no Party line on personal fiscal responsibility.

Georgia - Thank you for putting all the zeroes in your comment. One thing that might help wake people up is if we start putting the numbers out in their correct mathematical format.  When most people hear a term like Million, Billion, or Trillion there is no personal frame of reference for them to gain a real understanding which makes the reality something appearing not to effect them personally.

Lane - Agreed.  This is a downward spiral that will only gain momentum, and if painful changes are not implemented soon, we may not ever be able to overcome the problem.  This is like having gangrene, and not wanting to cut off the effected limb.  Eventually, it will kill you.

Dale - The Obama administration addressed this by saying they "were merely closing a loophole" that allowed business' to double dip the government for tax write-offs.  I think your assessment is closer to the truth.  I made a recent comment using the term Socialism, and was taken to task over it because the foreign government iw as speaking of did not own the majority of business, or even really any major ones.  My answer was, what difference does it make if the government owns the business, or the business' own the government?  Either way, the same people are really calling the shots.

Donna - There is a link to a survey in an article appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that with the passage of Health Care Reform, nearly one third of Doctors will want to leave their practices. http://www.nejmjobs.org/rpt/physician-survey-health-reform-impact.aspx

So what we are left with is a government entitlement program that will require more doctors in order to cover the newly created patients from a decreasing pool of available servers that will be funded by increased taxes on a shrinking tax base. 

If you think this adds up to a catch 22, you are correct, and the result is a massive understatement of the hit to our national deficit.

Mike -  I agree.  I didn't even want to bring up the problems being faced by the individual State's regarding budget shortfalls, and the amount of spending done by them on programs for insuring those "who cannot afford" health care.  I believe these costs were not counted under the CBO analysis because they were not Federal costs.  Now that the State's can dump these costs on the Federal doorstep, you know they will not hesitate.  Just another Unintended Consequence.