CBO Releases Revised Medicare Estimates

On March 4, the Congressional Budget Office sent a letter to Rep. Joe Barton, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and attached "revised . . . estimates of spending for Medicare, including the new Part D prescription drug program."  The letter (and revised estimates) have now been released (click here).  The estimate adds $54 billion more to the price tag of Part during its first 10 years and is part of a $70 billion increase in the CBO's estimate for Medicare expenditures, which is in turn a significant contributor to what the CBO says will be $200-billion-plus deficits for the next ten years if all of the Bush Administration's proposals for spending and taxes are enacted into law.  (Cleveland Plain Dealer)  [tm]