Gee, Who Knew it Would Actually Cost More?

The New York Times apparently didn' have a clue. Thus this article.

Senate Hits New Roadblocks on Health Care Bill
by Robert Pear and David M. Herzenhorn

Democratic leaders hit a rough patch Friday in their push for sweeping health care legislation, as they tried to fend off criticism of their proposals from a top Medicare official, Republicans and even members of their own party.

"...The Medicare official, meanwhile, said that total national health spending would increase slightly as a result of the Senate bill, put together by the majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. President Obama has repeatedly said that one of his top goals is to slow the growth of health costs.

Richard S. Foster, the chief actuary of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Friday that under Mr. Reid’s bill national health spending from 2010 to 2019 would total $35.5 trillion. That is $234 billion, or 0.7 percent, more than the amount projected under current law, he added.  

To help pay for coverage of the uninsured, the bill would impose new fees on health insurance companies and manufacturers of brand-name prescription drugs and medical devices. Mr. Foster said the fees would increase national health spending by $11 billion a year because the fees “would generally be passed through to consumers in the form of higher drug and device prices and higher insurance premiums.”

Go read it all to see how they are blaming this all on the Republicans.