The Obama Administration’s Fuzzy Premium Math
In his speech this morning, President Obama claimed that Obamacare is working to lower premiums. There’s only one problem with that claim: His math doesn’t add up. Let’s look at the facts. In 2008, then-Senator Obama promised premiums would go down under his plan by $2,500 per family per year. But the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2009 that Obamacare would raise premiums on the individual health insurance market by $2,100 per family per year by 2016.
The Administration also released a report today with claims of lower premiums. The press previewed the report this morning, saying: Costs for a middle-of-the-road insurance policy average roughly $321 per month across the 11 states that have released their rate filings for next year, administration officials said — compared with initial estimates of $392 per month. There’s one big problem with that claim: Premiums won’t actually go down—the increases will just be lower than expected. If premiums are $71 per month ($392 minus $321), or $852 per year, lower than CBO first estimated, that still leaves them nearly $1,250 higher than they would have been without Obamacare. Remember: CBO said individual health insurance premiums would go up by $2,100 per family. Even if premiums are going up by less than expected, they’re still going up—in violation of Obama’s 2008 campaign promise. |
No comments:
Post a Comment