Wash. Post's Connolly baselessly put "estimates" of Obama's health-care plan at "$1 trillion each year" for "some time"

Discussing President Obama's proposed health-care plan on the March 5 edition of MSNBC Live, Washington Post national staff writer Ceci Connolly baselessly asserted that "estimates" for the plan put the cost at "$1 trillion each year," saying, "Well, the plan is -- and it's an ambitious one, and it would take some time -- but the idea is that by coming up with some money, estimates are $1 trillion each year, you would be able to cover many more of those 46 million uninsured Americans." However, in a February 26 Washington Post article, Connolly suggested that the plan's estimated total -- not yearly -- cost is at least $1 trillion, writing, "President Obama is proposing to begin a vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching an overhaul that most experts project will ultimately cost at least $1 trillion."

Other news outlets have similarly reported that the plan is expected to cost more than $1 trillion "over 10 years," with The Wall Street Journal reporting on March 3 that "[e]stimates put the full cost of Mr. Obama's health plan at more than $1 trillion over 10 years," and the Associated Press writing on February 26 that "Obama's plan would set aside $634 billion over 10 years in a major effort to cover all Americans -- a goal that could cost more than $1 trillion."

From the 9 a.m. ET hour of the March 5 edition of MSNBC Live:

TAMRON HALL (anchor): And right now the government spends more than $2 trillion a year on health care and at least 46 million people right now still uninsured. The president's ultimate goal is for all Americans to have health care, but the prescription to fix a broken system is a bitter pill for some to swallow. The administration plans to ask for sacrifices for the greater good.

Ceci Connolly is a national reporter for The Washington Post. Ceci, thanks for joining us.

CONNOLLY: Good morning.

HALL: You had a great article on some of the so-called winners and losers in this, and you wrote. "Under the president's plan, hospitals, doctors, drug makers, insurance companies, and wealthy seniors -- all of whom will be represented at this summit -- would sacrifice. But if the system was calibrated properly, no one would lose too much." Explain more on that.

CONNOLLY: Well, Tamron, thanks for having me.

HALL: Sure.

CONNOLLY: What we are seeing in the opening gambit by President Obama -- and which we'll hear more about at this summit at the White House later today -- is that he is looking for some cuts in government spending to each of those major stakeholders that you talk about: doctors, hospitals, drug makers, et cetera.

But rather than really trying to deliver any sort of devastating blow to any one of those industries, he's very carefully calibrated it so that each would just give a little bit. It's a strategy to get everyone at the bargaining table and keep them at the bargaining table as long as possible.

HALL: Well, Ceci, in your article and as we just pointed out, the number of Americans estimated to not have health insurance: 46 million people out there. How could this possibly help all of those folks?

CONNOLLY: Well, the plan is -- and it's an ambitious one, and it would take some time -- but the idea is that by coming up with some money, estimates are $1 trillion each year, you would be able to cover many more of those 46 million uninsured Americans.

Then if you think about this long term, once those individuals start getting insurance, start going in for regular checkups, getting proper screenings, that sort of thing, you hope that they'd be in better health. They wouldn't be showing up at the emergency room in a very dire condition. So --

HALL: Right.

CONNOLLY: -- over the long term, you should see people in better health not costing as much money.

HALL: All right, Ceci, thank you very much. And again, the big news, at least right now, Senator Ted Kennedy will in fact return to Washington and attend that forum. Thanks, Ceci.