According to the CBO the budget can be balanced….really?

Actually yes it can. You are correct in that several things need to happen but if nothing is done, the deficit will actually skyrocket. Let me mention some things that are not entirely clear though. We, the taxpayers, are paying the medical bills for those who cannot afford it already. Much of it is thru Medicaid but it includes those who go to the ER / hospital without paying. The affordable care act helps in that medical charges are negotiated at a fair price and it gets people to see a regular doctor at office visit prices instead of the tens of thousands (perhaps) of dollars for an ER room to take little Timmys temperature. In addition, the price everyone saves from either high insurance prices (which average over 35% administrative costs that do not go to healthcare) or from enormous medical bills, go into the economy and thus improving it. Just to note on the 35% administrative overhead, that is about the average from all health insurance companies, the administrative costs for Medicare and VA is around 3%. z