Chief Medicare Actuary Report: Obamacare To Drive Up Costs/Drive Away Doctors

Nancy Pelosi was correct, we wouldn't learn about what was in Obamacare until it became law. The problem is now that America is finding out it is too late.

Richard Foster, the Chief Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, a division of the Department of the Health and Human Services just released a revised projection of how Obamacare will effect Medicare. His last projection, in November, did not evaluate the final version of the bill, but this one does.

President Obama  said it over and over, health care reform was needed reduce the cost of health care and to bring federal spending under control. Not so fast Mr President. The report (embedded below) sees Obamacare driving up health care costs by about $260 billion dollars over 10 years. Although that may be a low-ball estimate, since Medicare cuts in the law may be unrealistic and unsustainable, the report warned.

"During 2010-2019, however, these effects [Obamacare's savings] would be outweighed by the increased costs associated with the expansions of health insurance coverage," wrote Richard S. Foster, Medicare's chief actuary. "Also, the longer-term viability of the Medicare ... reductions is doubtful." Foster's office is responsible for long-range costs estimates.

The report projects that Obamacare will drive  doctors away from accepting medicare, and would expand insurance coverage to an estimated 34 million people who now lack it creating a demand for services that could be difficult to meet initially and could lead to price-increases, cost-shifting and/or changes in providers' willingness to treat patients with low-reimbursement health coverage.

The Actuary estimates that within ten years 15% of all medicare providing doctors will become unprofitable as a result of Obamacare's payment reductions. It also say the Independent Payment Advisory  Board has been given the impossible task of keeping medical costs below medical inflation. Though the report doesn't officially say this the only way to make up that difference is to limit what is covered through rationing.

My favorite part of the study is the part that says, this is the actuary's position only, not that of the Dept HHS (who will continue to throw BS at you as long as they can)

This actuary report is just another example of President Obama's Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy. When you want to know the truth about legislation, Don't Ask, because his policy is Don't Tell the truth.

Based on this impartial report by the Chief Actuary, health care costs are going up, we are going to lose medicare covering doctors, and there is going to be an overload of the system with 34 million newly covered patients.  This news comes on top of yesterday's CBO report projecting that the individual mandate in Obamacare will be primarily taxing the low and middle income of America.

Read the Full Actuary Report Below: