The Hill: Sen. Johnson calls savings under healthcare reform 'an utter fiction'
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sparred with White House health policy adviser Zeke Emanuel over the costs of the president's signature healthcare reform measure during a segment on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Monday, saying it was "an utter fiction that this was going to reduce the deficit."
"They gamed the CBO numbers. CBO was forced to score what the administration, what Congress gives them," Johnson said of a Congressional Budget Office projection that showed that increased insurance coverage would end up saving the government money.
Johnson, who announced his endorsement of Mitt Romney on Monday, dismissed those projections, saying they relied on "phantom savings" in programs like Medicare.
"Let's face it, the American people realize you can't cover 25 million more people without adding a dime more to the deficit. The number of broken promises President Obama made with his healthcare law are legion," the Wisconsin lawmaker said.
Emanuel — brother of former White House Chief of Staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — said it was likely the CBO was actually underestimating the potential savings under the plan. He noted that premiums in Massachusetts — where a similar plan was instituted under then-Gov. Mitt Romney — were down 40 percent while health outcomes were better.
"One simple question: Senator, what's you alternative?" Emanuel asked Johnson over his objection to the legislation.
But the Republican senator said the president's plan removed "free market discipline" from healthcare.
"Do you want government control over the system? Or do you really want the private sector, you know, bringing the free market back into this — that's been the problem, quite honestly," Johnson said. "As we separate the consumer and the product from the payment and the product, we've taken the free market discipline out of healthcare."
The Supreme Court voted Friday on the constitutionality of the healthcare reform legislation's individual mandate after three days of oral arguments before the higher court earlier in the week, although it is not expected to announce its findings until later this summer.
