Health Care Reform Simplified: Guide Your Family And Your Business Through Health Care Reform

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Who PaysHealth Care Reform to Cost $1.4 Trillion

Ask many Americans about health care reform, and even if they lack detailed knowledge of the new law, they will express concern about whether the nation can afford it, according to polls. In other words, they may not know what it does, but they know it's going to cost plenty.

And they are right. Health care reform runs up big costs, mainly from expanding the Medicaid program, subsidizing private insurance for people with low incomes, and providing tax credits to small businesses.

The Congressional Budget Office on March 30, 2011, released an updated estimate indicating that health care reform will cost the U.S. Treasury $1.4 trillion from 2012–2021. That's a big number: ...