Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Affordable Care Act Will Cost Billions Less Than Expected - Over the next few years, the government is expected to spend billions of dollars less than originally projected on the law, analysts said, with both the Medicaid expansion and the subsidies for private insurance plans ending up less expensive than anticipated.

Economists broadly agree that the sluggish economy remains the main reason that health spending has grown so slowly for the last half-decade. From 2007 to 2010, per-capita health care spending rose just 1.8 percent annually. Since then, the annual increase has slowed even further, to 1.3 percent. A decade ago, spending was growing at roughly 5 percent a year.  The NY Times has more here.

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Murray, Ryan Continue to Work on Budget Deal - Even though the Senate is out of session until next week, Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will return to Washington this week for negotiations with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the House budget panel’s chairman. 

The House plans to adjourn for the year on Dec. 13. Therefore, a deal must be reached soon if lawmakers are to vote on it before the Christmas break.

Conferees are trying to reach an agreement that could turn off some of the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester, which already started to go into effect this fiscal year on Oct. 1.

Patience among some conferees is wearing thin.

“There is no question that the budget conference should be moving at a faster pace.  House appropriators asked for a deal ‘by Dec. 2nd at the latest’ — and yet, almost seven weeks later, we still don’t have an agreement. This is simply unacceptable,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), one of the conferees, said Monday.  TheHill.com has more here.

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Biden Urges China, Japan To Lower Tensions - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called on Japan andChina to find ways to reduce tensions that spiked after Beijing proclaimed an air defense zone over disputed isles in the EastChina Sea, while repeating Washington was "deeply concerned" by the move.

The United States has made clear it will stand by treaty obligations that require it to defend the Japanese-controlled islands, but it is also reluctant to get dragged into any military clash between the Asian rivals.

"This action has raised regional tensions and increased the risk of accidents and miscalculation," Biden told a news conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"This underscores the need for crisis management mechanisms and effective channels of communication between China and Japan to reduce the risk of escalation."  

He said he would raise U.S. concerns directly when he met Chinese leaders. Reuters.com has more here.

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