One Obama healthcare goal elusive

[Forkboy]

Few see chance of premium cuts in near future

WASHINGTON - In the final debate of the presidential campaign, while banks collapsed and layoffs mounted, Barack Obama turned to the camera to speak directly to the 56 million Americans watching at home. His healthcare plan, he said, would save families big money on insurance.

"We estimate we can cut the average family's premium by about $2,500 per year," he said, repeating a promise he had made in the previous debate, and in stump speeches and television ads for the better part of a year.

As Congress prepares for a four-month sprint to pass a sweeping healthcare bill, though, it is hard to find anybody serious about health policy who believes premiums will actually drop anytime soon. Getting healthcare costs to grow at the pace of inflation, instead of two or more times that rate, would be "a tremendous stretch," said John Sheils, senior vice president of the Lewin Group, a health policy consulting firm.

Indeed, even the Senate Democrats writing the healthcare bill acknowledge that it could, initially, cost some families more in higher taxes to underwrite the cost of insuring the uninsured. Democrats in Congress are talking about things like taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol, and about taxing a portion of employee health benefits of those individuals with the biggest salaries and most generous health plans.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/05/21/one_obama_healthcare_goal_elusive/