Healthcare summit: GOP Rep. Dave Camp summarizes Republican complaints

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Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has been charged with addressing some cost-containment issues, but he has, in some swift strokes, basically covered most of the vitriolic GOP attacks on the Democratic healthcare bill.

In a few minutes, Camp, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee:

• Said the bill costs “a trillion dollars.” (Democrats argue that the bill pays for itself and cuts the deficit.)
• Would be paid for by cutting Medicare benefits for seniors. (Democrats say the bill cuts waste in Medicare.)
• Is more than 1,500 pages long (granted).
• Would result in government-run healthcare via the insurance exchanges that forces Americans to carry insurance. (Democrats counter than it sets up more competitive marketplaces.)

Obama grew so weary of it that he cut Camp off, saying, “If every speaker on one side is going through saying what they don’t like, it’s going to be hard for us to reach agreements.”

The latter isn’t looking too promising at the moment.

By the way, Camp mentioned that tort reform, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would save $54 billion. Both sides are guilty of fuzzy math when it comes to healthcare, but when you hear numbers such as that, take it with a grain of salt. Like most numbers bandied about, they cover a period of 10 years. That’s how the CBO scores bills. So Camp’s correct, except that aggressive tort reform would save $5.4 billion per year for 10 years. Whether that is significant or a drop in the bucket, obviously, depends on your point of view.

-- James Oliphant