President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) Releases Report June 2nd Making An Economic Argument for Health Care Reform

The new 56-page report argues that reform would raise Americans’ standard of living, lower the federal budget deficit, reduce the unemployment rate and increase the labor supply, and boost the rate of growth of the gross domestic product. By slowing the annual growth rate of health care costs by 1.5 percentage points, the report contends that it “would increase real gross domestic product”—resulting in $2,600 higher income for a family of four in 2020 and $10,000 in 2030. By focusing on containing health care cost growth and expanding health coverage to the uninsured, the report argues that reform would not only raise the standard of living by freeing up resources now spent on medical care, but would also lower the federal deficit since the government spends a significant amount of money on programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The report comes as both the Administration and Congress gear up to tackle health care reform legislation this month.