The CBO (which has been facing immense pressure) released a preliminary report this morning on the potential cost of the healthcare reform bill with the proposed reconciliation provisions. With the report questioning its own accuracy on the first page, a lot can change between what is written here and what congress will actually vote upon (if its a vote and not simply a 'deem') come Sunday. However, I thought it would be worthwhile to at least apprise our readers of the potential costs they may be facing shortly.
On page 8 of the report (found here) the CBO lists a quick add up of the kinds of new taxes and penalties they believe the American people will be facing in the next decade should this legislation pass. Turns out by 2019, this bill would be responsible for an additional 145 billion in taxes and penalties. Of which, 17 billion will be penalties paid by the uninsured (read: people making under $250,000) and 52 billion will be penalties paid by employers. Imagine trying to job hunt then! Whats more, thats really only a 6 year estimate because the politicians who crafted the bill wanted to make sure no new taxes were put in place before they had to face re-election. Which means a ten year score (2014-2024) of the taxes and penalties would be significantly higher.