Latest CBO Estimates Show Need to Tackle Rising Healthcare Costs

This perception was reflected on Capitol Hill as well. Senate Budget Committee Kent Conrad (D-ND) said there "was not much news in the reports” because CBO had projected deficits several months ago. However, he said the current numbers "reinforce the fact that the status quo on healthcare is not an option."

Since healthcare costs continue to grow much faster than inflation, "reform simply must be paid for over the next 10 years and also significantly reduce the projected cost of healthcare over the long term," Conrad said. In addition, he said that "a special process [is needed] that deals comprehensively with all of the causes of our growing national debt--including Social Security, healthcare, and our outdated and inefficient revenue system."

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), the ranking minority member on the Budget Committee, said that the "trillion dollar deficits will only compound the looming crisis on the horizon." He said while the healthcare system does need to be reformed, "we cannot ignore the fiscal realities of our situation...we are in a very deep budgetary hole."

While supporting healthcare reform, he criticized the Democrats for proposing plans that "would only increase government spending on healthcare, not lessen it," and said the country should "proceed with extreme caution" before putting in place a huge and costly new program."

Robert Blendon, ScD, professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard's School of Public Health, said that the current budget projections will put pressure on the healthcare reform measures "to be deficit-neutral in the real sense."

Since the bulk of the money of the reform bills goes into subsidizing coverage for people who are uninsured, Congress is likely to face a dilemma of how much it will subsidize coverage for people who are uninsured--and if cutbacks are necessary or raised taxes are needed. "You're in a situation where the pressure is on"-- where it may not be possible for Congress to subsidize as "generous a package or as many people as it did before," Blendon added.