Now Three Deficit Proposals

Igor Volsky with a nice post showing a side-by-side-by side comparison of the Bowles/Simpson Chairman's mark deficit proposal, Rep. Schakowsky's plan (she is a member of the President's Deficit Commission) and the Bipartisan Policy Center report that was released today. All the links to all the plans are embedded within the link above.

Rep. Schakowsky's plan* is not as strong on health care costs.....we need to do more beyond the Affordable Care Act. Hers does not do that. The other two plans do much more, and both the Bowles/Simpson and BPC each cap and in the case of BPC move toward ending the tax exclusion of employer paid health insurance. This is easily the most obvious and consequential next step in addressing health care cost inflation and am glad to see this policy coming up.

I will need to look more closely at what the BPC proposes around Medicare beyond their straightforward call to increase Part B premiums.

*Rep. Schakowsky's plan does include a public option which could have a positive effect on costs if it imposed Medicare payment rules, but this seems completely unrealistic at this point.

Update: CBO score of Ryan/Rivlin health proposal to alter Medicare and Medicaid.