The Oct 20, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contains a summary of the report of the IOM mentioned with the above title. The sixth and final of their recommendations is very interesting:

To ensure that the EHB-defined packages remain affordable and sustainable, the secretary should develop a strategy, in collaboration with others, for aligning the growth rate of health care spending in all sectors with that of the economy.

In simple English what does this mean? In a word “Rationing.”

Also enlightening is the CBO’s estimate of the cost of health insurance premiums with and without the Affordable Care ACT.

As can be seen, premiums either are unchanged or increase substantially. Where are the savings?