EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY, JUNE 2 THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The White House has released its argument supporting its version of health care reform (whatever that version might be). For the link to the entire document, click this blog's title above. Below, are the document's assumption and conclusions. Careful reading will help readers to determine whether this is an analysis based on complete and valid assumptions and whether the sketchy "plan" is more than a preliminary specification for rearrangement of the Titanic's deck chairs, lacking the specificity which would bring the lobbyists for disadvantaged irate major players in health care storming into the capitol.

"Assumptions. In this analysis, we assume that all of the savings to the Federal government take the form of deficit reduction. The assumption is a reasonable approximation. In the absence of reform, rising health care costs will cause unsustainable increases in the deficit. Using the savings from reducing the growth of health care costs to prevent these increases is essential to our long-run fiscal health. This section implicitly assumes that the costs of expanding coverage, which we discuss in the next section, would be covered by budgetary savings above and beyond the “curve benders” that are the focus of this analysis and by revenue increases. This is consistent with the President’s budget, which identified particular savings in the Medicare program and proposed specific revenue measures to pay for health care reform. In addition, over an extended period, the costs of expanded coverage are much smaller than the resources freed up by slowing cost growth. For these reasons, even if a small part of the costs of expanding coverage were paid for out of the savings resulting from slowing cost growth, this would have only a minor effect on the analysis we present....

"VII. CONCLUSION
The American health care system is on an unsustainable path. Expenditures as a share of GDP are already substantially higher than in other developed countries, and are projected to grow rapidly in the next three decades. This growth threatens to have a devastating impact on the growth in workers’ take-home pay and the government budget deficit. It is also likely to increase the number of Americans without health insurance from its already very high level and thus undermine the health of our population.
Successful health care reform will slow the growth rate of health care costs, maintain choices of doctors and health plans, and expand coverage. Slowing the growth rate of costs by 1.5 percentage points per year would have a dramatic impact on the trajectory of health care expenditures as a share of GDP over time. Slowing the growth rate of costs by a smaller amount (0.5 or 1.0 percentage point per year) would have smaller, but still important effects.
Our analysis shows that successful health care reform would have major benefits for the U.S. economy. Over time, the slowing of cost growth through increased efficiency would bring about substantial increases in Americans’ standard of living. It will also prevent devastating increases in the budget deficit and raise capital formation. We estimate that slowing health care cost growth by 1.5 percentage points will increase real GDP in 2030 by nearly 8 percent relative to what would happen without reform. We also find that slowing cost growth is likely to lower the unemployment rate consistent with steady inflation by roughly one-quarter of a percentage point for an extended period.
The net welfare effects of expanding coverage to the uninsured are also likely to be very large—probably in the range of $100 billion each year. Genuine reform will also likely increase labor supply, reduce job lock, and aid small businesses. . . .

The kind of reform that will bring about these economic rewards will not be easy. It will require truly game-changing innovations in many areas. But, if we can bring about such changes, there will be substantial benefits to American households, businesses, and the economy as a whole."