Government
CBO finds coalition savings proposals difficult to verify
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 29, 2009
The Congressional Budget Office concluded in a June 16 letter that most of the more than $1 trillion in health system savings proposed by the American Medical Association and five other major groups either lack enough detail to be evaluated or would not involve the federal government, and therefore would not reduce government health care spending.
The CBO letter was in response to a request by Rep. Dave Camp (Mich.), the highest-ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee. The proposals were made by the six organizations to help President Obama slow the annual growth in health spending by 1.5% over a decade, or at least $2 trillion, as part of national health system reform.
Nevertheless, previous CBO analyses have found that several of the ideas would produce savings. For example, reducing Medicare payments to hospitals with high readmission rates and capping noneconomic and punitive damages in medical liability cases would each save at least $5 billion over a decade.
But the CBO also said some of the proposals the six organizations presented as a way to save money over the long run initially would increase federal government spending. "If the health care industry is serious about helping to reform health care, I would suggest they go back to the drawing board and help us find real savings for the American people," Camp said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/06/29/gvbf0629.htm.
