Double-Count Medicare Savings

CBO: You Can’t Double-Count Medicare Savings

Dec 29, 2009

by John Goodman

Democrats in Congress are claiming that cuts in Medicare spending will both pay for health reform and add to Medicare’s long-term solvency. But a new CBO report says it’s either/or, but not both. [Of course, this also implies that the Medicare and Social Security trust funds are not holding anything of value — Congress has been double-counting there since the inception of those programs.]