Baucus healthcare plan would "break budget," increase costs.

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Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) introduced the first "deficit neutral" healthcare legislation on September 16, but the bill would increase most people's healthcare premiums by forcing private insurers to make up for doctor's losses through the Medicare program. And it would still "break the federal budget"--if you take President Obama at his word. Obama told the American people on July 22 in his speech to a joint session of Congress: "We also know that with health care inflation on the curve that it's on we are guaranteed to see Medicare and Medicaid basically break the federal budget."

Baucus' bill, the America's Healthy Future Act, replaces President Obama's proposed "public option" with non-profit healthcare "exchanges." It would cost at least $774 billion over the next 10 years and cut the projected deficits by $49 billion from existing projected increases. But if the current Medicare and Medicaid spending trends would "break the federal budget," would a bill that would cut that spending trend by less than $5 billion per year make the difference? Probably not, unless you believe President Obama was being less than truthful and overly alarmist in his July 22 statement.

Baucus' bill would create a mandate loosely based upon the failing Massachusetts system that requires people to purchase insurance or face stiff fines on their income taxes, which Baucus initially set at up to $3,800 per American family that fails to purchase insurance. Under fire, Baucus later proposed cutting that maximum fine in half.