VAN SUSTEREN: Senator, the Congressional Budget Office has come out with their number, and they say that the Senate Finance bill is $829 billion over 10 years. What do you think?
GRASSLEY: Well, I think it will be closer to $1 trillion. And the huge untold story here is that in all of this process of spending this massive amount of money is going to lead to a massive involvement of the federal and government in the health care.
And untold story is the 85 percent of the people who have health insurance today will see their premiums go up, and spending near $1 trillion, we are still going to have 25 million people who do not have health insurance. . . .
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, back to the Congressional Budget Office and this $829 billion. You say that 85 percent of people with insurance their premiums are going to go up. If it goes up a dollar no one is particularly alarmed. But the question is how much will it likely go up, because that’s where people start to get concerned?
And secondly, how are we paying for this? Even if it’s not $900 billion — I mean, $829 billion seems a lot better than the $900 billion that we thought we might see today from the Congressional Budget Office, but where are we getting the $829 billion?
GRASSLEY: Ok, it will let me give you some figures. They will not be entirely right, but over $400 million from Medicare cuts. And that will scare seniors in this country.
It’s coming from more than $400 million of an increase in taxes, like when employers have to pay a fee when their insurance does not meet the actuarial value that the bill calls for. You will have to pay for those people to get subsidies.
There is going to be a tax on Cadillac-type plants, the high-cost plans, 40 percent.
When an individual doesn’t take insurance under an individual mandate — in other words, the federal government in this bill says if you do not have health insurance and you’re a family, you will pay $1,500 tax to the federal government because you are not buying health insurance.
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