More Administration Misinformation on Premiums
The Administration is scheduled to release a “report” on premiums later today; while the report itself has not been released, Politico has an article summarizing its contents. The full story is pasted below my signature; here are the critical sentences:
The report, to be released by HHS later today, argues that individuals and families purchasing coverage through the exchanges in 2014 will save 14-20 percent over what coverage would cost them if the law had never been enacted….
The report’s claims are likely to be challenged by Republican opponents of health care reform. The report is based on projections contained in a November 30, 2009 analysis of the ACA. But the Administration omits a part of the CBO’s analysis, which is being used by the law’s opponents to claim that the law actually increases premiums.
The ACA requires the purchase of benefit packages that are more comprehensive than what many Americans would otherwise buy. These more generous benefit packages may mean higher premiums, though they may also lower Americans’ out-of-pocket costs. HHS does not factor in the “benefit buy-up” because it believes comparing the cost of the same level of coverage gives a more accurate picture of the law’s effect on premiums.
As a reminder, the Congressional Budget Office found that the Senate bill would RAISE premiums by an average $2,100 per family. While the Administration claims that the Exchanges would reduce costs on their own, CBO found that premiums will go up because individuals would be FORCED to buy richer policies. In other words, the increased mandates in the law – because Democrats and government bureaucrats believe that some Americans’ coverage is “insufficient” – will RAISE premiums. Even President Obama admitted at the White House summit last February that he was incorrect in his exchanges on this matter with Sen. Alexander, and that the law will raise premiums by $2,100 on average per family in the non-group market.
What does it say about this Administration that it continues to peddle information that the President himself acknowledged was incorrect and misleading? And how is breaking the President’s campaign promise to lower premiums by $2,500 per family “change we can believe in?”