Notepad

Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote today that the prevention meme trotted out by the White House and congressional Democrats -- that society will save money through preventive medicine -- is, well, baloney.

His evidence: A Congressional Budget Office finding, submitted in the form of a letter to Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., that "the evidence suggests that for most preventive services, expanded utilization leads to higher, not lower, medical spending overall."

CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf adds: "That result may seem counterintuitive."

No doubt. But there are a lot of reasons that increasing preventive care would cost rather than save money, according to CBO. Chief among them is that doctors have to give preventive care to a lot of patients for each instance of averting a serious illness.

Chalk up another one for CBO (this time on the GOP side of the ledger).