Kerry to insure 27 million uninsured for $653 B- CBO will not do a GOP est

Kerry health-costs debate alarms CBO (but no est to contradict Kerry 653B)


http://www.thehill.com/news/051904/cbo.aspx

Kerry health-costs debate alarms CBO
$1 trillion price tag, or is it really only $653 million?
By Bob Cusack


<snip>Last month, Thorpe (a professor at Emory University) revised his estimate. Based upon new information the (Kerry) campaign had supplied, Thorpe lowered the price tag from $895B to $653B.<snip>

In his revised estimate, Thorpe credited Kerry with more than $116 billion in savings for the proposal’s disease-management programs. These initiatives stress preventive screening that would catch serious illnesses early. Some health officials say disease-management efforts extend lives and save money because hospitalizations and surgeries are avoided.

In his analysis of Kerry’s plan, Thorpe said the expansion of disease and care management in Medicare and other health programs go “beyond anything contemplated under current law.”

But some maintain that the CBO would not be as kind to Kerry. <snip>

It will most certainly cost less than the adventure in Iraq.