Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Doug Elmendorf’s gave a presentation at the Schaeffer Center of the University of Southern California in regards to the economic effects of the health care reform legislation. The report notes, total spending on health care now accounts for about 15 percent of GDP, and CBO projects that it will represent more than 25 percent by 2035.
CBO’s analysis of the March legislation:
- The legislation will reduce the amount of labor used in the economy by roughly half a percent, primarily by reducing the amount of labor that workers choose to supply.
- The legislation will increase spending on health care for people who would have been uninsured in the absence of the legislation.
- The legislation will decrease spending on health care for people who would be insured with or without the legislation. The magnitude of that decrease, and the extent to which it will be achieved through greater efficiencies in the delivery of care or through reductions in access to care or quality of care, are unclear.
For a copy of the complete presentation, please visit: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/119xx/doc11945/USC10-22-10.pdf