The Health Care Bill By the Numbers

by Josie Raymond · 2010-01-16 10:42:00 UTC
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Thanks, Washington Post, for breaking down the health care bill into digestible numbers. Now if you could just get the thing passed with a public option and bipartisan support, we'd love you forever!

Here's a closer look:

Yes, this reform bill costs $900 billion -- spread over 10 years.

That $900 billion pricetag is just 4% of the $2.3 trillion spent on health care in this country in 2008, and an even smaller percentage of estimated future spending. (Health care spending has been growing by a nausea-inducing 7% annually.)

The bill is estimated to save $800 billion over the next 15 years. In a vacuum, that's a lot of money. But we're not in a vacuum, and the U.S. will spend trillions. People who get paid to think about this stuff favor slowing annual spending growth rather than the more modest cost-cutting measures. Well, sure, in an ideal world. But progress is progress.

The bill won't take effect until 2014, so you'll have to find insurance til then. Actually, you might not even notice a difference after the bill starts working. Ninety percent of Americans will get health care the way they always have, while the bill insures 30 million people who would otherwise be uninsured. Not counting undocumented immigrants, about 6% of the population still won't be covered.

It's an informative dose of perspective -- and pessimism. While the Post argues that health care reform legislation won't save the world, or ruin it, insuring those 30 million people will make an awfully big difference to 30 million people.

Photo credit: Photos8.com

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.
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