Obamacare absorbs Medicare’s cost

The Sunday Dispatch.com article, “Repeal of Obamacare without a replacement would increase debt” is both factually inaccurate and misleading. The article incorrectly said that Obamacare “was financed with tax increases largely on wealthy investors….” That is simply untrue.

In 2015, the Congressional Budget Office officially estimated that surtaxes on those with high incomes financed $346 billion of Obamacare, compared with $802 billion financed by Medicare cuts. Medicare is far and away the largest pay-for under the Affordable Care Act, not the insurance tax increases levied against anyone, whether rich or poor, who has health insurance.

The article misled its readers because, although CBO assumes that $802 billion of Medicare cuts will take effect, Medicare trustees have warned publicly that the proposed amount of these cuts is extremely unlikely. The annual Medicare trustees report noted that the magnitude of the projected cuts will likely drive hospitals into bankruptcy and doctors out of practice.

As a result, Medicare actuaries reasonably doubt the size of these cuts and have released alternative fiscal forecasts — something the article failed to mention. Obamacare advocates have long claimed that the Affordable Care Act reduces the deficit.

The cold facts claim otherwise, showing clear signs of cost overruns inflicted as the Obama administration desperately sought billions of dollars to bail out health insurance companies that experienced huge losses trying to live up to the Obamacare hype.

Rea S. Hederman Jr. Executive vice president The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions Columbus