Dear GOP, Health Care Law Will Save Money

The midterms have brought Republican lawmakers to power on Capitol Hill who are determined to cut government spending. These legislators are also dead-set against allowing the health care reform act to take effect, but that's a shame because it contains some of the most effective cost-cutting measures out there, writes former White House budget director Peter Orszag in the New York Times.

"Sure, the health care law is not perfect, but it would cut the nation’s long-term fiscal imbalance by a quarter and reduce the projected deficit within Medicare by three-quarters," Orszag writes. If that seems incredible, it's a testament to the "distorted" public perception of the bill, not the bill itself. One reason for that is that the House's version was more focused on expanding coverage than controlling costs. But the Senate was aware of that, and crafted a much thriftier bill—which in turn became law.