H.R. 3200 By the Numbers
The Republican Conference has compiled a list of important numbers relevant to the House Democrats’ 1,018-page “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act:”
114 million—Number of individuals who could lose their current coverage under the bill, according to non-partisan actuaries at the Lewin Group
5.5 million—Number of jobs that could be lost as a result of taxes on businesses that cannot afford to provide health insurance coverage, according to a model developed by Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer
$820 billion—Total new taxes on individuals who cannot afford health coverage, and employers who cannot afford to provide coverage that meet federal bureaucrats’ standards
$1.28 trillion—New federal spending on expanded health insurance coverage over the next ten years, according to a Congressional Budget Office score of selected elements of the bill
.6%—Percentage of all that new spending occurring in the bill’s first three years—representing a debt and tax “time bomb” in the program’s later years that will explode for future generations
$88,200—Definition of “low-income” family of four for purposes of health insurance subsidies
33—Entitlement programs the bill creates, expands, or extends—an increase from an earlier draft
53—Additional offices, bureaus, commissions, programs, and bureaucracies the bill creates over and above the entitlement expansions—also an increase from the discussion draft
1,683—Uses of the word “shall,” representing new duties for bureaucrats and mandates on individuals, businesses, and States—and an increase of 306 mandates from the discussion draft
$10 billion—Minimum loss sustained by taxpayers every year due to Medicare fraud; the government-run health plan does not reform the ineffective anti-fraud statutes and procedures that have kept Medicare on the Government Accountability Office’s list of high-risk programs for two decades
Zero—Prohibitions on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid from using cost-effectiveness research to impose delays to or denials for access to life-saving treatments
2017—Year Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted—a date unchanged by the bill, which re-directs savings from Medicare to fund new entitlements for younger Americans
$2,500—Promised savings for each American family from health reform, according to then-Senator Obama’s campaign pledge—savings which the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed will not materialize, as the bill will not slow the growth of health care costs