AnnotatedOpinions.com

On Saturday, the CBO partnered with the staff of the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to issue [an analysis of the health insurance bill]. . .  

The very next day, the CBO issued a corrected analysis, saying, in effect, oops, we were wrong about the long-term financial consequences of Reid’s changes, but it doesn’t really matter, because, well, it’s too hard for me explain in 700 words here, and even if I thought I could, I’d probably be wrong. (Read it for yourself here:
cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=447.) [AO: This is not entirely accurate. The CBO issued a correction stating that while there was no change in the first 10 years, the correction “reduces the degree to which the legislation would lower federal deficits in the decade after 2019.” Here is the first paragraph. Not so complicated, eh? Basically, the bill reduces the federal deficit in the next two decades. In the first decade, the reductions remain unchanged. In the second decade, the reductions are less.  

CBO has discovered an error in the cost estimate released yesterday related to the longer-term budgetary effects of the manager’s amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act. Correcting that error has no impact on the estimated effects of the legislation during the 2010–2019 period. However, the correction reduces the degree to which the legislation would lower federal deficits in the decade after 2019.]  

. . .In explaining why the bill would slow Medicare’s increased rate of spending (a critical element of the legislation), the CBO said, “It is unclear whether such a reduction in the growth rate could be achieved, and if so, whether it would be accomplished through greater efficiencies in the delivery of health care or would reduce access to care or diminish the quality of care.”  

In other words, “Ignore what we’ve just said.” What we’re really saying is: Seniors could get less care or worse care. [AO: This  comment is about an increase in the growth rate of Medicare. The CBO projects that the Medicare’s growth will decrease by roughly 2 percent over the next two decades.   

But here’s the thing: the CBO does not just say that seniors could get less or worse care as the writer suggests. According to the CBO, seniors could also get more efficient care. That is one of the primary purposes of the legislation, is it not?]