House health measure to increase US spending, study says

Health legislation passed by the US House last week would result in an increase in overall spending on health care, and the savings projected in the bill may be hard to attain, according to a report from Medicare’s chief actuary. National health expenditures would be an estimated $289 billion higher through fiscal 2019, or about 0.8 per cent more than would otherwise be the case, Richard Foster, the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, said in the report. The estimates don’t take into account federal administrative expenses and the increase in income and other tax revenues that would come from a surcharge on people and families with higher incomes. The House bill, passed on Nov 7 and supported by only one Republican in the Democratic-led body, includes provisions designed to prevent insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, and to help the elderly to obtain preventive care and medicine.