Former CBO Directors Express 'Strong Objection' To GOP Attacks On Agency

Jonathan Cohn
Updated

Every economist who has previously served as director of the Congressional Budget Office has signed a letter registering “strong objection to recent attacks” on the agency.

The letter, sent Friday morning and addressed to congressional leaders, does not specify who has been making those attacks. But only one political party is attacking the CBO right now ― and only one party has so brazenly questioned the agency’s methods to draw this kind of response from such a distinguished, bipartisan group of economists.

It’s the Republicans, because they don’t like what the CBO has been saying about GOP proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The letter is brief, at just a little over 300 words. Except for that opening sentence, in which the former directors express their “strong objection to recent attacks on the integrity and professionalism of the agency,” the tone is bland. The signatories mostly try to explain how the agency does it work and why Congress needs an impartial referee to make predictions about what proposed legislation would do.

But it’s not every day that eight former CBO directors, included those appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, issue this kind of letter. And it’s not difficult to see why they felt such action was suddenly necessary.

CBO assessments of Republican health care legislation have been devastating to the repeal effort, because the agency has repeatedly produced predictions at odds with what the Trump administration and GOP leaders in Congress have said their proposals would do. Over and over again, CBO has said millions of Americans would lose their insurance and that, even as some people saved money, others would pay much more either as higher premiums, higher out-of-pocket expenses, or both.

On Thursday, for example, CBO evaluated the latest version of the Senate Republican leadership’s bill that predicted 22 million people would lose coverage and that some individuals would be carrying individual policies with deductibles of more than $12,000 a year.

Republicans have responded not by acknowledging that their legislation might have such effects, even though multiple independent experts have come to the same conclusions as the CBO. Instead, GOP leaders have repeatedly questioned CBO’s fitness to make predictions about health insurance.

Although politicians have certainly questioned CBO assumptions and predictions in the past, nobody has attacked the budget office as aggressively and relentlessly as the Republicans are doing now. In just the past two weeks, the White House has produced an anti-CBO video, and two senior administration officials wrote a Washington Post op-ed describing CBO predictions as “little more than fake news.”

Predicting the effects of health legislation is an imperfect science and, as the letter acknowledges, CBO has made mistakes in the past. But although CBO badly misjudged enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges, the agency was remarkably close on the most important prediction, and the one that seems most relevant now: the overall reduction in the number of uninsured.

Republicans have attacked the CBO even though they were the ones who appointed the current director, Keith Hall. Among those who praised that decision was Tom Price, who at the time was serving as chairman of the House Budget Committee and is now Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration.

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1912

Former President Theodore Roosevelt champions national health insurance as he unsuccessfully tries to ride his progressive Bull Moose Party back to the White House.
Former President Theodore Roosevelt champions national health insurance as he unsuccessfully tries to ride his progressive Bull Moose Party back to the White House.

1935

President Franklin D. Roosevelt favors creating national health insurance amid the Great Depression but decides to push for Social Security first.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt favors creating national health insurance amid the Great Depression but decides to push for Social Security first.

1942

Roosevelt establishes wage and price controls during World War II. Businesses can't attract workers with higher pay so they compete through added benefits, including health insurance, which grows into a workplace perk.
Roosevelt establishes wage and price controls during World War II. Businesses can't attract workers with higher pay so they compete through added benefits, including health insurance, which grows into a workplace perk.

1945

President Harry Truman calls on Congress to create a national insurance program for those who pay voluntary fees. The American Medical Association denounces the idea as "socialized medicine" and it goes nowhere.
President Harry Truman calls on Congress to create a national insurance program for those who pay voluntary fees. The American Medical Association denounces the idea as "socialized medicine" and it goes nowhere.

1960

John F. Kennedy makes health care a major campaign issue but as president can't get a plan for the elderly through Congress.
John F. Kennedy makes health care a major campaign issue but as president can't get a plan for the elderly through Congress.

1965

President Lyndon B. Johnson's legendary arm-twisting and a Congress dominated by his fellow Democrats lead to creation of two landmark government health programs: Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor.
President Lyndon B. Johnson's legendary arm-twisting and a Congress dominated by his fellow Democrats lead to creation of two landmark government health programs: Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor.

1974

President Richard Nixon wants to require employers to cover their workers and create federal subsidies to help everyone else buy private insurance. The Watergate scandal intervenes.
President Richard Nixon wants to require employers to cover their workers and create federal subsidies to help everyone else buy private insurance. The Watergate scandal intervenes.

1976

President Jimmy Carter pushes a mandatory national health plan, but economic recession helps push it aside.
President Jimmy Carter pushes a mandatory national health plan, but economic recession helps push it aside.

1986

President Ronald Reagan signs COBRA, a requirement that employers let former workers stay on the company health plan for 18 months after leaving a job, with workers bearing the cost.
President Ronald Reagan signs COBRA, a requirement that employers let former workers stay on the company health plan for 18 months after leaving a job, with workers bearing the cost.

1988

Congress expands Medicare by adding a prescription drug benefit and catastrophic care coverage. It doesn't last long. Barraged by protests from older Americans upset about paying a tax to finance the additional coverage, Congress repeals the law the next year.
Congress expands Medicare by adding a prescription drug benefit and catastrophic care coverage. It doesn't last long. Barraged by protests from older Americans upset about paying a tax to finance the additional coverage, Congress repeals the law the next year.

1993

President Bill Clinton puts first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in charge of developing what becomes a 1,300-page plan for universal coverage. It requires businesses to cover their workers and mandates that everyone have health insurance. The plan meets Republican opposition, divides Democrats and comes under a firestorm of lobbying from businesses and the health care industry. It dies in the Senate.

1997

Clinton signs bipartisan legislation creating a state-federal program to provide coverage for millions of children in families of modest means whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid. 
Clinton signs bipartisan legislation creating a state-federal program to provide coverage for millions of children in families of modest means whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid. 

2003

President George W. Bush persuades Congress to add prescription drug coverage to Medicare in a major expansion of the program for older people.
President George W. Bush persuades Congress to add prescription drug coverage to Medicare in a major expansion of the program for older people.

2008

Hillary Clinton promotes a sweeping health care plan in her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. She loses to Barack Obama, who has a less comprehensive plan.
Hillary Clinton promotes a sweeping health care plan in her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. She loses to Barack Obama, who has a less comprehensive plan.

2009

President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress spend an intense year ironing out legislation to require most companies to cover their workers; mandate that everyone have coverage or pay a fine; require insurance companies to accept all comers, regardless of any pre-existing conditions; and assist people who can't afford insurance.
President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress spend an intense year ironing out legislation to require most companies to cover their workers; mandate that everyone have coverage or pay a fine; require insurance companies to accept all comers, regardless of any pre-existing conditions; and assist people who can't afford insurance.

2010

With no Republican support, Congress passes the measure, designed to extend health care coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people. Republican opponents scorned the law as "Obamacare."
With no Republican support, Congress passes the measure, designed to extend health care coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people. Republican opponents scorned the law as "Obamacare."

2012

On a campaign tour in the Midwest, Obama himself embraces the term "Obamacare" and says the law shows "I do care."
On a campaign tour in the Midwest, Obama himself embraces the term "Obamacare" and says the law shows "I do care."

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.