Republicans seized on a report by government actuaries that said the Senate health bill would cause national health costs to rise, the Wall Street Journal reports. The report, compiled by the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, estimated that total health costs in the U.S. would be $234 billion higher than if the bill weren't passed. The report said measures in the bill to restrain Medicare costs and trim generous insurance plans "would have a significant downward impact on future healthcare cost growth rates," but said those gains would be outweighed in the initial years as newly insured people sought to get more healthcare, the Journal reports.
