From McGurn's November 24 Wall Street Journal column:

Conservatives and Republicans rattle off any number of objections to the bill: It would bust the budget; it would force many families to replace private coverage with government; it would subsidize abortion; it would ration care, etc. These are all variations on the major argument: It's not going to work.

None of this really persuades Democrats, because they see it differently. For Democrats, getting a big health-care bill to Barack Obama's desk is akin to FDR's signing the Social Security Act.

Never mind if it costs too much or has some bad consequences. Ask yourself this: Whether it's Social Security or public education, when have Democrats ever cared whether government programs are meeting their goals? The important thing is that massive health-care spending shows they care.

Fact: Senate bill would not “force” anyone “to replace private coverage with government”

As the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) noted in its November 18 cost estimate of the Senate bill, "[t]he options available in the insurance exchanges would include private health insurance plans and could also include a public plan that would be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Service (HHS)." The bill specifies that there is “no requirement for individuals to join” the public option and states “may elect to prohibit Exchanges in such State from offering a community health insurance option if such State enacts a law to provide for such prohibition.” CBO estimates that “total enrollment” in the public plan “would be 3 million to 4 million,” assuming that “about two-thirds of the population” live in a state that does not prohibit the inclusion of a public insurance plan in its exchange.

Fact: Senate bill yields deficit reductions according to CBO

CBO stated in a November 18 cost estimate of the Senate bill that “enacting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would yield a net reduction in federal deficits of $130 billion over the 2010-2019 period.” CBO further stated that the bill will continue to reduce the deficit beyond the 10-year budget window that ends in 2019 by “around one-quarter percent of GDP,” and that “in view of the projected net savings during the decade following the 10-year budget window, CBO anticipates that the legislation would probably continue to reduce budget deficits relative to those under current law in subsequent decades, assuming that all of its provisions would continue to be fully implemented.”

Fact: Senate bill explicitly prohibits federal funding of abortions not covered under Hyde amendment

As Media Matters for America has documented, the Senate version of the health care bill requires the HHS secretary to ensure the public option uses “no Federal funds” in providing abortion coverage beyond the Hyde amendment. Section 1303(a)(1)(C) of the Senate bill, titled “Prohibition on federal funds for abortion services in community health insurance option” explains that the Health and Human Services secretary must ensure that “no Federal funds are used for such coverage” as outlined in Section 1303(a)(1)(B)(i). That section is defined as “Abortion for which public funding is prohibited.” The bill also states that if a “qualified health plan” offered under the Exchange provides coverage of abortion services for which public funding is banned, “the issuer of the plan shall not use any amount attributable” to the subsidies created under the bill “for purposes of paying for such services” and must segregate funds for that purpose. Morever, in 17 states, Medicaid, a b000-.html" title="blocked::http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/usc_sec_42_00001396b000-.html blocked::http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/usc_sec_42_00001396b000-.html http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.law.cornell.edu%2Fuscode%2F42%2Fusc_sec_42_00001396b000-.html http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscod">federally subsidized health care program, covers abortions in circumstances in which federal money is prohibited from being spent on abortion by segregating federal funds.