Coinciding with the recent pledge by a coalition of industry groups to cut $2 trillion from the growth of health-care spending over 10 years, and the White House’s push for Congress to wrap up a health-care bill this year, a new report released by the WH says controlling healthcare costs now will have a beneficial effect on the economy in the near term. The report also presages an event discussion with top Senate Democrats in which President Obama will take part in today. Specifically, the report estimates that a 1.5-percentage point cut in the annual growth rate of health-care costs would raise real gross domestic product by over 2% in 2020 and by almost 8% in 2030. According to the WH, such growth would add $2,600 to a typical family of four’s income in by the end of 2020. | LINK

UPDATE: Montana Sen. Baucus faces long odds as he tries to sell Obama on a plan to tax some employer-sponsored healthcare benefits as a mechanism to cut overall administrative costs. The likelihood of cooperation by the president on this issue is slim, given the acknowledgement of potential funding from a corporate-backed infusion of almost 2 trillion dollars to achieve this end. | LINK

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