Study:Bush plan would cut uninsured, raise deficit

New research from The Lewin Group, a non-partisan research organization, has concluded that the health insurance tax restructuring proposed by President Bush could indeed save money for some families, and cut the number of uninsured in the U.S.  Lewin researchers also noted that the plan could accomplish one of its main goals, cutting increased health spending; in fact, it could cut such spending by about $24.5 billion in 2009, said vice group president John Sheils.

However, the punch line is that most of the tax reductions would go to families with incomes above $50,000. Worse, the plan would increase the U.S. budget deficit by $61.8 billion in the first year, 2009, though the increase would decline over the following 10 years to $45.3 billion in 2018. This comes from making an average federal expenditure of $7,440 per newly insured person, Lewin says.

To find out more about Lewin's analysis:
- read this release from the analyst firm

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