Richard S. Foster is the chief actuary for Medicare. Congressional Democrats, who friended him in 2004 when he raised questions about the Bush Administration may be frantically unfriending him today. His recent analysis of the new health care law could have been reduced to one word: "DUH."
Mr. Foster has found that the overall growth of health care spending won't slow because of the expansion of insurance and services to 34 million people. But when President Obama signed the bill last month, he promised that it would "bring down health care costs for families and businesses and governments." You mean you can't actually cover more people for less cost? This is shocking! Someone should alert the media!
Foster's report, which he sent to Congress last Thursday, said that, "Overall national health expenditures under the health reform act would increase by a total of $311 billion." Worse, the report estimates that in 2019, when all of the provisions have taken effect, there will still be 23 million people uninsured.
