By: Congressional Budget Office
Author: Sandra Christensen
Published: April 1993
Financed by: Congress of the United States
Legislation analyzed: none, plan analyzed developed by the CBO.
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Universal first-dollar coverage could be achieved (under SP2) at a cost that would represent less than the typical annual increase in spending for health now, while universal coverage with copayments (under SP1) might even reduce spending somewhat. Expansions in coverage would be possible at little or no cost under the single-payer options because of savings on the overhead expenses of insurers and providers and because average payments to physicians per service would be reduced by about 13 percent using Medicare's rates. Average payments to hospitals per service would be slightly higher, by about 0.5 percent.