"Everyone went into lockdown, and people here were too scared to go public with the report" UPDATED

*The Prowler's account is denied by the The Office of the Medicare Actuary.
**The Prowler reaffirms original story.

Original post:

I've run out of polite pejoratives. Get a load of this: DEMOCRATS HID DAMNING HEALTH CARE REPORT FROM PUBLIC UNTIL A MONTH AFTER VOTE

As you may recall, the story was that Congress went ahead with the ram-through, declining to wait for Medicare's Office of the Actuary's report on the costs of the bill.

Scratch that. The report was submitted to HHS, and to the White House, at least a week before the vote. It "set off alarm bells," and was hidden from the public.

From The Prowler:

The economic report released last week by Health and Human Services, which indicated that President Barack Obama's health care "reform" law would actually increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on consumers, had been submitted to the office of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the Congressional votes on the bill, according to career HHS sources, who added that Sebelius's staff refused to review the document before the vote was taken.

"The reason we were given was that they did not want to influence the vote," says an HHS source. "Which is actually the point of having a review like this, you would think."

The analysis, performed by Medicare's Office of the Actuary, which in the past has been identified as a "nonpolitical" office, set off alarm bells when submitted. "We know a copy was sent to the White House via their legislative affairs staff," says the HHS staffer, "and there were a number of meetings here almost right after the analysis was submitted to the secretary's office. Everyone went into lockdown, and people here were too scared to go public with the report."

And not one 'public servant' at HHS leaked anything about the report's existence or contents. They were 'too scared.' Way to earn that salary.

I don't suppose Sebelius or Obama broke any laws by hiding the report, but it's unequivocally unethical. Sebelius, at least, should be hauled before one of those blowhard committees, sworn in, and required to disclose what she knew and when she knew it. It's outrageous. This is the woman who's been given enormous powers over our healthcare under the new law. And we pay her salary, too.

Related story: Orszag Touts the Wonders of Powerful Rationing Board
Those death panels are gonna be awesome! (No, he didn't actually say that.)

*Update: The Office of the Medicare Actuary denies this story.
**Clarification from The Prowler, 4/28/10:

Our sources stand by the facts that prior to final passage of the health care reform bill on Sunday, March 21, the Office of the Actuary had provided senior leaders inside HHS with data that indicated the then-bill would increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on Americans. And that data was not provided to anyone publicly until after the legislation was passed.

That the report was issued after the bill's passage is not in dispute. What is in dispute is who had data and when were those estimates initially available. According to our sources, researchers in the actuary's office had several models prepared, at least one of them based on the Senate health care reform bill, which was passed several months before the House vote. Data from studying the Senate bill indicated that -- big surprise -- the bill would increase health care costs.

In other words, HHS and the White House were in possession of the data, but not in the form of an official report.

Thanks to MichelleMalkin.com for the link.

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