Isn’t health reform going to put more burdens on federal and state governments because we will be covering more people without insurance?
Controlling health spending is critical for the fiscal health of the federal government and the states. For example, health care spending today consumes 30 percent more of state and local budgets than it did 20 years ago, forcing governments to choose between cutting services and raising taxes. And the Council of Economic Advisors recently released a sobering report on the impact of health care spending on the federal government. It found that if we do nothing by 2019, • Health care expenditures will be 21 percent of GDP—one fifth of our economic output. • Spending on Medicare and Medicaid will be 8 percent of GDP. • Nineteen percent of the non-elderly population, or 54 million Americans, will be uninsured. The cost of caring for the uninsured burdens all of us. Families with insurance pay a hidden tax of $1000 to cover the cost of uncompensated care in this country. For working Americans who rely on employer-sponsored health insurance, rising costs mean that an even greater proportion
Related Questions
- Isn’t health reform going to put more burdens on federal and state governments because we will be covering more people without insurance?
- What resources is the federal government prepared to commit to state and local governments for election reform?
- What is sharing powers between the federal and state governments called?
