Another Obamacare Myth Debunked
Last month, the Administration attempted to claim that this year’s lower-than-expected increase* in Part B premiums was due to Obamacare’s ability to lower costs through things like “investments” in prevention (read: jungle gyms). Unfortunately for the Administration, however, the Kaiser Family Foundation – a left-of-center think-tank generally supportive of the law – released an analysis today undermining that assertion. The analysis done for Kaiser found that quarterly physician office visits by those under age 65 started declining in 2008 (i.e., before Obama was even elected), dropped precipitously at the end of 2009 – before Obamacare was enacted – and has remained at low levels ever since. As the liberal think-tank notes, this pattern is NOT consistent with Obamacare reducing health costs – it’s consistent with a bad economy stifling them:
As the economic downturn deepened, the number of physician visits among the privately insured started a downward trend, which has continued even as the recession technically ended in June of 2009….Even people who are insured are going to the doctor less. Likely, consumers are reacting to the severe economic downturn and significant job-loss which has defined the economy over the last several years by cutting back on health spending.
The Kaiser study is also consistent with what the non-partisan Medicare actuary concluded was responsible for the slowdown in health cost growth: “Estimated spending growth in 2010 was slow due to continuing declines in employment and private health insurance coverage associated with the recent recession.”
In other words, spending growth was slower – and the Medicare premium hike lower – than projected NOT because Obamacare worked, but because the Obama “stimulus” didn’t. Put another way: If the Administration wants to take credit for the lower-than-expected increase in Medicare premiums, does it also (finally) want to accept blame for the lousy economic conditions that were its primary cause?
* And just in case you forgot, candidate Obama promised to CUT premiums by an average of $2,500 per family – so ANY premium increase by definition means the law has failed to achieve its promised savings.