House Democrats Propose Trillions Of Dollars In Unsustainable Entitlements

The corporate media won’t say so, but Democrats’ policy agenda for the midterm elections comes with an inherent irony. Even after lawmakers preach “affordability” for the middle class, their proposals would prove unaffordable for the federal government. That’s the upshot of the report House Democrats’ health care working group delivered to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., earlier in September and which was made public last week. One anonymous source told Politico that the document “was a kitchen-sink-type document where everyone got their idea put in. … Nobody was told no, it seems.” That pretty much describes every Democrat document ever, amounting to the policy equivalent of Oprah’s: “You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!” Socialist Proposals Some quick word searches within the document reveal Democrats’ priorities. In the span of an 84-page paper, Democrats use the word “establish” (as in “create new programs”) 64 times, some variation of “expand” (as in “enlarge existing programs”) more than 100 separate times, and some variation of “require” (as in “impose new federal mandates”) over and over. These word choices speak volumes as to the party’s philosophy of (big) government. The document proposes 18 separate “potential [pieces of] legislation for the first 100 hours” — a legislative package that would leave little time for members to consider anything else (or to sleep or eat) during the initial four days of the 120th Congress. Within the laundry list of proposals for the first 100 hours and beyond, several themes become apparent: Socialized Medicine: Regardless of whether or when Congress considers full-on single-payer legislation, the report cites myriad options to get there incrementally: lowering the eligibility Medicare age, creating Medicare for kids under age 26, expanding Medicaid in states that have not embraced Obamacare’s expansion to able-bodied adults, and on and on. Taxpayer-Funded Abortion on Demand: Beyond just codifying Roe v. Wade, the report endorses legislation to “ensure that every person who receives care or insurance through the federal government could receive abortion services at no cost to the patient. It also prohibits political interference in decisions by private health insurance companies, including [Obamacare] marketplace coverage, to offer coverage for abortion care.” Immigration Amnesty: The report calls on Democrats to “pass the American Dream and Promise Act to provide permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for [Temporary Protected Status] holders and Dreamers, preventing the loss of thousands of health care and care workers who are essential to hospitals, nursing homes, and patients.” The report does not limit the “permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship” only to immigrants who are health care workers, instead using health care as an excuse to pass the amnesty Democrats have long supported. Insurer Bailouts: As with a document that Senate Democrats released earlier this summer, the House report calls for perpetuating two bailouts of Medicare Part D insurers — one the Biden administration imposed unilaterally, which the Trump administration will end next year, and a second one established in statute scheduled to end in 2029. Both bailouts were necessary because Democrats’ Inflation (Reduction) Act caused an explosion in Part D spending that could cost trillions of dollars over the long term. Trillions in Spending: Fully estimating the cost of all the Democrat proposals might require the advanced AI that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wants to ban. I’m only half joking. Undoing the savings provisions of last year’s budget reconciliation bill would cost at least $1 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Reinstituting the enhanced Obamacare subsidies that expired in January would cost $350 billion over the same time frame. Back in 2019, CBO concluded that expanding dental and vision coverage in Medicare would cost $358 billion over 10 years — a number that has likely increased since then. Then there is the cost of the coverage expansions I mentioned above under “socialized medicine,” the would-be expansion of long-term supports and services, the proposed $5,000 out-of-pocket cap on seniors’ spending in traditional Medicare, and the proposed 8 percent of income cap on all Americans’ out-of-pocket spending (including premiums, deductibles, and all other forms of cost-sharing), including those with employer-provided health coverage. I could go on, but you get the idea. This is what Democrats call “affordability” — trillions of dollars in spending, at a time when even committed leftists concede that the federal government suffers from dangerously high structural deficits. And to answer the obvious question, no, the Democrat paper didn’t include any proposals to pay for all of this new spending, save for more price controls on insurance companies and drug manufacturers, which likely wouldn’t begin to cover the full cost. Policy Contrast The report does include some less controversial, and even potentially bipartisan, items. It contains positive mentions of telehealth, site-neutral payment (i.e., not paying more when a procedure is done in a hospital vis-à-vis a doctor’s office), several policies it describes as MAHA-friendly, and stronger enforcement of antitrust laws (necessary in part because Obamacare encouraged health care conglomerates to consolidate). It also includes a section on strengthening women’s health — its commitment to “guaranteeing abortion” aside. But a cynic might note that implementing such policies would first require Democrats to define what a “woman” is. In the main, however, the report illustrates the many policy conflicts likely to arise if Democrats regain control of the House and/or Senate next year. All of this should motivate conservatives to vote accordingly on Nov. 3. Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group and author of the book "The Case Against Single Payer." He is on Twitter: @chrisjacobsHC. Abortionaffordabilitybig governmentDemocrat PartyDemocratsEntitlementsGovernment SpendingHakeem Jeffrieshealth careHouse DemocratsMedicaidMedicareMidtermsObamacarePoliticssocialismWelfare