Quick Fact: Krauthammer falsely claims health care reform will add “about two trillion” to the deficit

Written by Oliver Willis

Published

Charles Krauthammer falsely claimed that the recently passed health care reform law would add “about two trillion” to the federal budget deficit. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the new law will reduce, not increase the deficit.

From the April 14 edition of Fox News' Special Report:

BRET BAIER (host): Charles?

KRAUTHAMMER: I'm interested in the timing of all this. It seems as if now that health care is behind us, with all the smoke and mirrors and deception that went into the numbers that made it look okay, honesty has broken out on Capitol Hill. So all of a sudden, we're gonna hear from the chairman of the Federal Reserve and others how deep in debt we are, 'cause remember health care added about two trillion to our deficit.

FACT: CBO found that health care reform would reduce the deficit

CBO, JCT found health care reform legislation would reduce the deficit by $143 billion through 2019. From a March 20 CBO cost estimate of the Senate health reform bill and the health care and education reconciliation bill:

CBO and JCT [Joint Committee on Taxation] estimate that enacting both pieces of legislation--H.R. 3590 and the reconciliation proposal--would produce a net reduction in federal deficits of $143 billion over the 2010-2019 period as result of changes in direct spending and revenues (see Table 1). That figure comprises $124 billion in net reductions deriving from the health care and revenue provisions and $19 billion in net reductions deriving from the education provisions.

Estimate also found reform legislation would continue to reduce deficit in second decade. The CBO further stated:

Reflecting the changes made by the reconciliation proposal, the combined effect of enacting H.R. 3590 and the reconciliation proposal would also be to reduce federal budget deficits over the ensuing decade relative to those projected under current law--with a total effect during that decade in a broad range around one-half percent of GDP.