More than anything, the Baucus plan is about exerting control over the delivery of medical care as a way to control cost--and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be the instrument of that coercion.

The true effect of Senator Baucus's health care bill will likely be large increases in the deficit, not an $81 billion reduction.

By exposing more of Americans' incomes to payroll taxes, the Baucus bill increases the Social Security surpluses and makes the on-balance budget appear more balanced.

Some policymakers and lawmakers will argue that Social Security is separate and distinct from our broader fiscal challenges. I disagree. I believe that immediately addressing the challenges facing the Social Security program offers an opportunity to improve our country's fiscal soundness, lift an undue burden from future generations, and strengthen our economy's long-run growth prospects.

AEI scholar Joseph Antos warns that the Baucus Bill could add $270 billion to the federal deficit.

For all the public wrangling we are seeing over the super committee — mostly centered on tax reform and revenues as a key component of a compromise — the big issue facing policymakers in the coming years is health care costs.

The headlines that the health care bill sponsored by Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus will cut the federal deficit by $81 billion over the next ten years are not worthy of belief.

The Baucus bill will add as much as $376 billion to the deficit over the next decade.