BLOGROLL

President Obama's health care proposal hit a major snag on Monday after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their first cost first cost estimate of the plan.

The report CBO concluded that the President's plan will:

• Cost at least $1 trillion
• Cause 22 million Americans to lose their current health coverage
• Decrease the number of uninsured by 16 million at a cost of $62,500 per currently uninsured person

Senator Hatch commented on the report:

At a time when the president is working with congressional Democrats to quickly cram an ultra-costly health care plan through the Senate HELP Committee, followed by a similar approach in the Senate Finance Committee, we were all stunned today to learn from the CBO that the bill will cause more than 22 million Americans to lose their current health coverage. This proposal flies in the face of the president's pledge to American families that they could keep the health care coverage of their choice. The CBO estimate shows that the Democratic proposal will decrease the number of uninsured by about 16 million at a cost of 1 trillion dollars over the first 10 years, or $62,500 per uninsured.

It should be noted that the CBO's estimate does not reflect the final cost of the President's bill -- since it does not take into account the cost of a massive expansion of Medicaid, a new government-run plan nor a job-killing employer mandate -- however the costs are only expected to increase!