Wash. Times' bad accounting on House health care reform bill

SUMMARY: The Washington Times reported that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found the House health care reform bill "will have a gross cost of $1.06 trillion but, with $167 billion in new penalty taxes imposed on businesses and individuals, the net cost is $894 billion." But the Times' report is misleading; at no point did it explain that the $894 billion figure it cited is actually the net cost of coverage provisions, which CBO found "would be more than offset," nor did the report explain that CBO estimated the bill would generate a "net reduction in federal budget deficits of $104 billion" over the next decade.

Comments