February 19, 2009 5:18PM 

# The “Stimulus” Package’s Depressing Health Care Provisions 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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I’ve got a [commentary](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100862589) over at NPR about how the health care provisions in the “stimulus” package are bad investments. Here’s a taste:

> We desperately need [research on the effectiveness of medical treatments](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9940), and the law includes $1 billion for that. Yet experience suggests the benefits of taxpayer-funded research may be zero…
> 
> 
> \[T\]he law’s $33 billion for electronic medical records also fails the cost-benefit test. The CBO estimates it would be cheaper just to do the second MRI…
> 
> 
> The law includes $115 billion in health insurance subsidies. Economists have no clue whether that passes the cost-benefit test either…
> 
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> The law will finance expanded COBRA benefits with a $65 billion hidden tax on other workers’ health insurance premiums. That hidden tax will actually reduce wages and job creation…

The good folks at NPR encourage you to [post comments](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100862589#commentBlock).

(FYI, Cato will host a [forum on comparative-effectiveness research](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=5886) on Tuesday, March 3.)

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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