Parties spar over healthcare study

Both Democrats and Republicans are claiming that a report issued yesterday by the Business Roundtable bolsters their case on healthcare.

The White House was quick to tout the report yesterday, pointing out that the Roundtable portrayed the status quo as unacceptable and praised a number of Democratic proposals.

But Republicans today tried to claim the report for themselves, pointing to the authors' pessimism about the public option.

Read the full report here.

"Structuring a public plan option with payments equal to or slightly greater than Medicare rates risks exacerbating current cost shifting," the study reads. "As private-plan costs continue to rise under this pressure, more employers will be squeezed out of the employer health care system as coverage becomes unaffordable. Over time, this cost-shifting cycle could risk unraveling the entire employer-based system."

This echoes a key GOP talking point: that the public option will spin out of control.

The study also criticizes a proposed tax on high-priced insurance plans.

"The proposed tax on high-cost plans does not take into account that some health plans may exceed the cap because of factors like the age, health status, and geography of their workforce, rather than an overly generous plan design," the authors wrote.

But the GOP was forced to admit that the study embraces an individual mandate, which Republicans decry as intrusive and even unconstitutional.

Forcing individuals to get coverage on way or another is key to keeping costs low, the study argues.

Republicans were none too pleased with BRT for issuing the report to begin with.

The group often sides with Republicans on issues of taxes and regulation, and strongly condemned the bill that passed out of the House.

"The Business Roundtable really should’ve learned from Bob Dole, Bill Frist, and Tommy Thompson that the mere mention of support for any aspect of health reform will be misconstrued by this administration to mean they’re on board with a trillion dollar government takeover,”  a Republican Senate aide told The Hill in an article published today.

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