Obama's BIG lie about Healthcare...overhaul could cost $1.5 trillion

The US still has the best health care in the world and we still keep medical decisions private, Obama bureaucrats would like to change that...you would no longer have the choice...Big government would choose for you...not the choice I want.

Health care overhaul may cost about $1.5 trillion

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Guaranteeing health insurance for all Americans may cost about $1.5 trillion over the next decade, health experts say. That's more than double the $634 billion 'down payment' President Barack Obama set aside for health reform in his budget, raising the prospect ofsticker shock at a time of record federal spending. Administration officials have pointedly avoided providing a ballpark estimate, saying it depends on details to be worked out with Congress.

"It's impossible to put a price tag on the plan before even the basics have been finalized," said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. "Here's what we do know: The reserve fund in the president's budget is fully paid for and provides a substantial down payment on the cost of the reforming our health care system."

Still, the potential runaway costs are raising concerns among Republicans and some Democrats as Congress prepares to draft next year's budget. The U.S. spends $2.4 trillion a year on health care, more than any other advanced country. And some experts estimate that a third or more of that goes for tests and procedures that provide little or no benefit.

"We shouldn't just be throwing more money on top of the present system, because the present system is so wasteful," said Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee. more...