RELH
Long Time Member
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File under, ?only in Washington.?
While Democrats are howling that the Senate?s health care bill would gut Medicaid, a closer look at the numbers shows the legislation actually would increase spending to the safety-net program?by tens of billions of dollars.
According to the latest ?score? from the Congressional Budget Office, Medicaid spending would rise from $393 billion in 2017 to $464 billion in 2026?that's a $71 billion, or 18 percent, increase.
So how are Democrats describing this as a Medicaid cut?
Because even a $71 billion increase is considerably smaller than what taxpayers would see under current law. If nothing changes, the CBO predicts Medicaid spending in 2026 would be a whopping $624 billion.
All told, Medicaid spending under the Senate bill would be roughly $772 billion less over the next decade.
SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL WOULD LOWER DEFICIT, INCREASE NUMBER OF UNINSURED, ESTIMATE SAYS
But Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary to George W. Bush, told Fox News that's still not really a cut -- since spending rises.
?When I was at the White House in 2001, Federal Medicaid spending was $129 billion,? Fleischer told Fox News in an email. ?My point is in Washington, spending only goes up. The issue today is how much should Medicaid spending increase?by a lot or by a huge amount? There are NO cuts.?
Fleischer took to Twitter to hammer that point, accusing the media of ignoring the $71 billion increase. He compared the situation to a worker who gets a lower-than-expected raise and tries to call it a cut:
While Democrats are howling that the Senate?s health care bill would gut Medicaid, a closer look at the numbers shows the legislation actually would increase spending to the safety-net program?by tens of billions of dollars.
According to the latest ?score? from the Congressional Budget Office, Medicaid spending would rise from $393 billion in 2017 to $464 billion in 2026?that's a $71 billion, or 18 percent, increase.
So how are Democrats describing this as a Medicaid cut?
Because even a $71 billion increase is considerably smaller than what taxpayers would see under current law. If nothing changes, the CBO predicts Medicaid spending in 2026 would be a whopping $624 billion.
All told, Medicaid spending under the Senate bill would be roughly $772 billion less over the next decade.
SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL WOULD LOWER DEFICIT, INCREASE NUMBER OF UNINSURED, ESTIMATE SAYS
But Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary to George W. Bush, told Fox News that's still not really a cut -- since spending rises.
?When I was at the White House in 2001, Federal Medicaid spending was $129 billion,? Fleischer told Fox News in an email. ?My point is in Washington, spending only goes up. The issue today is how much should Medicaid spending increase?by a lot or by a huge amount? There are NO cuts.?
Fleischer took to Twitter to hammer that point, accusing the media of ignoring the $71 billion increase. He compared the situation to a worker who gets a lower-than-expected raise and tries to call it a cut:
