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  Budget chief sees 'hard slog' on health
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Last Editedkal  Jun 17, 2009 06:51am
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CategoryStudy
AuthorBy Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
MediaNewspaper - USA Today
News DateWednesday, June 17, 2009 12:50:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionOverhauling the nation's health care system won't easily lead to the long-term budget savings that President Obama hopes to achieve, the director of the Congressional Budget Office says.
Obama has said that "health care reform is entitlement reform," but he plans to use savings from Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years to extend health insurance coverage to millions of people.

In an interview Monday with USA TODAY, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said the cost to insure those people will continue to rise, and savings from efforts to curb health care spending may be elusive.

That's because some of the best ways to reduce costs — slashing Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals or limiting tax breaks for employer-provided health benefits — are politically difficult, Elmendorf said. Savings from changes sought by Obama and his allies in Congress — cutting costs in high-spending regions, expanding best practices and bundling services — won't be easy to achieve.

"There's tremendous potential to reap savings in the health sector without harming health, but turning that potential into reality is challenging," Elmendorf said. "It's going to be a long, hard slog." The director issued a similar cautionary warning to Congress in a report Tuesday.

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