It does sound fantastic on paper, but the problem is the CBO can be manipulated because they are a neutral agency and are only allowed to score a bill based on the assumptions given to them on face value from those who wrote it.

The major problems with the health care bill come from what is defined as “revenue”. These major components stand out:

1. $72.0 Billion from Federally backed disability insurance program (known as CLASS) where the premium paid into the program is counted as revenue even though it goes towards benefits that must be paid out to elderly and disabled. This is double accounting this type of assumption no where near being GAAP or Non-GAAP acceptable. There is also the assumption that health care costs won’t go up as well, which we all can guarantee isn’t likely. So, eventually we’ll have liabilities that outpace what revenue has been put into the program (just like Social Security), and since this is another entitlement program, it will have to be funded elsewhere (i.e. taxes).

2. $53.0 billion from Social Security taxes collected on wages people will get in lieu of healthcare benefits (it’s assumed employers will be hiring more). But the big problem here is if you put money into Social Security, that will eventually be paid out through Social Security benefits and should not have been counted as revenue, but instead a future liability. These funds are not revenue. Most likely this will still be a deficit source down the road. Right now, social security is $43.0 trillion unfunded, and Medicare $57.0 trillion unfunded.

3. $247.0 billion to pay for the so-called doctor’s fix (number from CBO), which easily wipes out the supposed deficit benefits of the first decade. Medicare reimbursement payments to doctors were supposed to come down 21% around the time this bill was going through Congress, but was put off indefinitely, in what most speculate was in order to gain the endorsement of the AMA. Although this resulted in $247 billion that the government was going to save by reducing the reimbursement payments, it was not added to this health care bill but is an actual cost through unrealized savings not budgeted that is directly related to the passing of this bill.

4. $38 Billion in Medicare prescription drug subsidies also not counted in this bill.

5. $71.0 billion in appropriations to run the system which will become a government behemoth that includes the hiring of 16,500 new IRS agents.

Lost Jobs & Other Flawed Assumptions:

1. $19.4 Billion ending subsidies to lenders involved in the Student Loan program, resulting in a loss of 35,000 jobs.

2. $500.0 billion is saved over ten years by cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse which is something nobody believes will happen. On the contrary, adding 32,000,000 more people to the system will actually increase fraud, waste, and abuse.

I’m all for Universal Healthcare, but now’s not the time and this is definitely not the way to get it done. Focus on the economy first. When businesses are thriving, people are working and the economy is doing well, then we can take aim on these types of problems. Frankly, I’d rather have a job first, then healthcare, but I defnitely don’t speak for everyone.

Also, economically, this simply does not add up. From the sketchy revenue sources to the overall loss in jobs and depressed wages that will result from this, we really should be focusing on creating jobs so we can get our balance sheets back in the black. If we go this route, we can tackle programs with the surplus that we could use that actual revenue from, rather than passing something with the major components kicking in the year 2014, but with immediate significant tax implications now.

Instead, this does not bode well for the entire working class and those companies that employ them. Everyone has somehow been affected by the recession. Personally I have many friends that have ben laid off. This bill does very little to help improve their prospects since it doesn’t give businesses much incentive to hire because of the costs they will now have incur:

* AT&T estimates $1 billion in costs due to this bill
* Catepillar estimates $100 million in first year costs due to this bill
* Deere: $150 million in costs
* 3M: $90 million in costs
* Verizon: $46.8 Milion
* According to Credit Suisse, the new healthcare law will result in a $4.5 billion impact to S&P 500 Companies in the first quarter of this year alone

As a result of these additional costs, these companies will either raise prices or be laying more of their employees off. Also, many small businesses will have little incentives to growing their businesses past 50 employees because this bill requires them to offer health insurance when this employee threshold is met.