National Health Expenditure Projections at odds with socialists claims that Obamacare will lower healthcare costs!

Graph of the Day for September 12, 2010

Randall Hoven

"Now, the issue of making sure this [health care reform] is deficit-neutral is somewhat separate from the issue of bending the cost curve. I mean, conceivably, you could have a system that pays for itself, but doesn't bend the cost curve; it's going to cost you more and more money. Or, alternatively, you could bend the cost curve, but not expand coverage. I think that it's important to do both. I think it's important for us to make sure that 46 million people who don't have health insurance get it. And I think it's important for us to bend the cost curve, separate and apart from coverage issues, just because the system we have right now is unsustainable and hugely inefficient and uncompetitive."  [Emphases added.]  President Obama, July 2009, as reported by The Washington Post.

The Cost Curve

Source:  Health Affairs, based on data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary.  HT:  Geoff at AoSHQ.  (Also see The Wall Street Journal.)

Hoven's Index for September 12, 2010

National Health Expenditures:

Projected growth in 2014 without ObamaCare:  6.3%

Projected growth in 2014 (initial coverage year) with ObamaCare:  17.4%

Projected average annual growth rate, 2009-2019, without ObamaCare:  7.7%

Projected average annual growth rate, 2009-2019, with ObamaCare:  8.8%

Actual average annual growth rate, 2001-2008:  7.1%

Sources:  Health Affairs and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.