Chief Medicare actuary Richard Foster testified before the House Budget Committee today in the first of what are sure to be many hearings on repeal and replacement of Obamacare. Foster said that in his judgment, two key promises of Obamacare — cost control and maintenance of current coverage — are likely to go unfulfilled.
Mr. Foster has been making the case that the ACA will be disastrous for seniors — and just about everybody else — since before it was passed, but it’s good to hear him say it in front of a House with the power and the will to do something about it.
The landmark legislation probably won’t hold costs down, and it won’t let everybody keep their current health insurance if they like it, Chief Actuary Richard Foster told the House Budget Committee. His office is responsible for independent long-range cost estimates.
Foster’s assessment came a day after Obama in his State of the Union message told lawmakers that he’s open to improvements in the law, but unwilling to rehash the health care debate of the past two years. Republicans want to repeal the landmark legislation that provides coverage to more than 30 million people now uninsured, but lack the votes.
Foster was asked by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., for a simple true or false response on two of the main assertions made by supporters of the law: that it will bring down unsustainable medical costs and will let people keep their current health insurance if they like it.
On the costs issue, “I would say false, more so than true,” Foster responded.
As for people getting to keep their coverage, “not true in all cases.”
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