NY Times, November 15, 2009
High Costs Weigh on Troop Debate for Afghan War
By CHRISTOPHER DREW
While President Obama’s decision about sending more troops to
Afghanistan is primarily a military one, it also has substantial
budget implications that are adding pressure to limit the
commitment, senior administration officials say.
The latest internal government estimates place the cost of adding
40,000 American troops and sharply expanding the Afghan security
forces, as favored by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top American
and allied commander in Afghanistan, at $40 billion to $54 billion
a year, the officials said.
Even if fewer troops are sent, or their mission is modified, the
rough formula used by the White House, of about $1 million per
soldier a year, appears almost constant.
So even if Mr. Obama opts for a lower troop commitment,
Afghanistan’s new costs could wash out the projected $26 billion
expected to be saved in 2010 from withdrawing troops from Iraq.
And the overall military budget could rise to as much as $734
billion, or 10 percent more than the peak of $667 billion under
the Bush administration.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/politics/15cost.html
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NY Times, December 5, 2009
Home Care Patients Worry Over Possible Cuts
By ROBERT PEAR
CARIBOU, Me. — Dozing in a big lift chair, propped up by pillows
in the living room of her modest home here, Bertha G. Milliard
greeted the nurse who had come to check her condition and review
the medications she takes for chronic pain, heart failure, stroke
and dementia.
Ms. Milliard, 94, said those visits had been highly effective in
keeping her out of the hospital. But the home care she receives
could be altered under legislation passed by the House and pending
on the Senate floor as Congress returned to work this week.
As they are across the nation, Medicare patients and nurses in
this town in northern Maine are anxiously following the
Congressional debate because its outcome could affect Medicare’s
popular home health benefit in a big way. The legislation would
reduce Medicare spending on home health services, a lifeline for
homebound Medicare beneficiaries, which keeps them out of
hospitals and nursing homes.
Under the bills, more than 30 million Americans would gain health
coverage. The cost would be offset by new taxes and fees and by
cutbacks in Medicare payments to health care providers.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/health/policy/05home.html
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