Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
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According to the Congressional Budget Office’s projections, the Republican Medicare plan will actually lead to an enormous increase in health care costs. Its projections imply that the cost of buying Medicare equivalent insurance would rise by $30 trillion over Medicare’s 75-year planning period. This amount is approximately 6 times the size of the projected Social Security shortfall.
Therefore the Post was incorrect in claiming that the Republican plan would lead to sizable cost savings, although the government’s payments for Medicare would be reduced.