Rainfall at the weekend caused the water in the Rhine river to rise slightly. “At some stations, no precipitation at all has been measured in August,” added Kirchhübel, referencing Würzburg as an example. In the last 30 days, only about 10 percent of the usual level of precipitation fell in some places. “Looking at Rhineland-Palatinate, the southern half of Hesse, the western half of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Franconia shows a different picture,” said Kirchhübel. The Black Forest, the High Rhine and the Allgäu to the Bavarian Forest, however, are not expected to have any major problems due to the high rainfall of the past few days. READ ALSO: Heavy rain in Bavaria swells rivers, but flooding avoidedĪt the end of the week, thunderstorms are forecast but temperatures are expected to remain high.Īccording to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, August as a whole – apart from a few areas in eastern Germany – will be too dry compared to the multi-year average. “In most of the rest of the country, high ‘Piet’ will be able to hold its ground,” said Kirchhübel. Short showers are also possible in the Black Forest. This is due to a high-level low pressure system over the Balkan region, according to forecasters. However, from the Oder and Neisse rivers to the Erzgebirge mountains and southeast Bavaria, denser clouds and some showers are to be expected. Forecasters predict it could reach 32C in Stuttgart and 33C in Cologne on Thursday. The Baucus people are probably happy that CBO gave them a score that didn’t increase the deficit, but that doesn’t change the fact that this remains a cumbersome and expensive way of getting at only about half (54%) of the problem of the uninsured.On Monday temperatures remained fairly cool across the country after a weekend of showers, but they are set to climb over the course of the week, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday. Unsurprisingly, Medicare Advantage takes a big hit, as cuts to the program will bring in $117 billion through 2019. This would cost the already cash-strapped states, as state spending on Medicaid would increase by $33 billion.Ĩ. This stands in contrast to all recent history in this area, as doctors have nearly always been successful at lobbying Congress to prevent significant rate cuts.ħ. The score is based in part on assumptions regarding Congressional behavior that CBO considers unrealistic, namely that doctor-reimbursement rates would be cut by 25% in 2011 and that subsequent increases would be held below the rate of inflation. As CBO puts it:Ī detailed year-by-year projection, like those that CBO prepares for the 10-year budget window, would not be meaningful because the uncertainties involved are simply too great.Ħ. We don’t really know what will happen beyond 2019. According to the score, 91% of the total population would be insured by 2019.ĥ. One-third of those 25 million are likely to be illegal immigrants. The bill covers 29 million people, but still leaves a great many people uninsured - 25 million in 2019. In addition, the penalty on those still not purchasing insurance would be expected to bring in $1 billion a year once it’s in effect.Ĥ. The bill spends a great deal of money - $829 billion - but is scored as reducing the deficit over ten years because of the offsets, which include $311 billion in taxes. This is somewhat akin to test-driving the blueprint of a car rather than the actual car itself.ģ. This is again a preliminary score, as they have specs, but not legislative language, from the committee. It pays for this by cutting Medicare payments and imposing a tax on high-value insurance plans.Ģ. To translate, the bill imposes a mandate for the purchase of health insurance, and gets people covered by creating subsidies and expanding Medicaid eligibility. Would establish a mandate for most legal residents of the United States to obtain health insurance set up insurance “exchanges” through which certain individuals and families could receive federal subsidies to substantially reduce the cost of purchasing that coverage significantly expand eligibility for Medicaid substantially reduce the growth of Medicare’s payment rates for most services (relative to the growth rates projected under current law) impose an excise tax on insurance plans with relatively high premiums. I’ve finished reading through the CBO score of the Finance Committee package, and here are some preliminary thoughts:ġ.

Eight thoughts