Blue Dogs ask CBO to offer more details about House's healthcare bill

The House's newest healthcare bill is deficit neutral over a 10-year span, but Blue Dog Democrats still have one important question: Does it actually bend the cost curve in the right direction?

At least, that's the big concern they expressed to the Congressional Budget Office in a letter sent Thursday evening. Citing Director Douglas Elmendorf's testimony earlier this year -- in which he predicted the House's first healthcare effort would not produce the "fundamental changes" required to "reduce the trajectory" of federal health spending -- the Blue Dogs inquired whether their chamber's new bill might fare any better.

"Your letter leaves unclear... whether the Affordable Health Care for America Act takes the steps necessary to effectively 'bend the cost curve,'" they about the CBO's estimate, released earlier today. "In order to make an informed decision about the legislation, we believe it is necessary to have as full and clear a description of its long-term budgetary effects as CBO can provide."

Specifically, the Blue Dogs are asking Elmendorf to analyze whether the legislation would reduce the growth of federal health spending, and if not, what Democrats could do to better constrain that expenditure. They also hope the director can shed some light on what the new bill could do for national health spending -- which includes the non-public sector -- and predict with some degree of veracity what all of the numbers might mean after 2019, which the CBO's initial estimate did not detail in full.

However, the CBO is unlikely to provide Blue Dogs with nuanced information addressing their every concern, albeit not for lack of trying. Previous CBO cost estimates on healthcare reform have stressed that predictions past a 10-year window are difficult, if not ripe with ambiguity, mostly because the country's health needs change rapidly -- as do the costs.

Still, Blue Dogs said Thursday they were committed to gaining the most accurate understanding of what the House bill means for both the country's health spendings and its future debt and deficits.

"As Blue Dogs, we remain committed to ensuring that legislation in the House is not only deficit neutral, but contains costs and is fiscally responsible over the long-term," they wrote. "By reducing costs, we will make health care more affordable and take great strides in relieving the pressure on the wages and pocketbooks of American families."

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