Obama blames Obamacare purchasers for rising costs

Obama blames Obamacare purchasers for rising costs

Monday, March 07, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes


Tags: Obamacare, health insurance, rising costs



(NaturalNews) When Democrats and President Obama were "selling" the Affordable Care Act to the American people in 2009, they made lots of promises that have never come true and will never come true.

"If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." Except when your doctor opts out of Obamacare exchanges, as hundreds of thousands have done.

"If you like your healthcare plan, you'll be able to keep your plan period." Except when those plans don't live up to Obamacare's mandatory coverage requirements, as millions have not.

"We will work with your employer to lower premiums by $2,500 a year." Except that, because Obamacare's mandatory coverage requirements exceed coverage held by most Americans, monthly premiums have skyrocketed, in some cases by as much as 78 percent, according to a new study.

'You're not shopping correctly'

Finally, Americans were promised that, under Obamacare, overall employer healthcare costs would decrease. But, alas, that promise hasn't come true for far too many companies.

Only, that's not the president's fault, or the fault of the law; Obama is blaming it on companies.

During a question-and-answer session recently at Millennium Steel Services in Princeton, Indiana, a company manager asked why health insurance costs were still rising, when Obama promised that they would not. The president's answer was telling.

"We are seeing almost a double-digit increase in health-care costs every year," Millennium Steel general manager Mihir Paranjape said to Obama, according to The Daily Caller. "Do you think that trend is going to go down, and what can we do to control that trend?"

"I think that's really interesting, you're gonna have to talk to Henry," Obama answered, referencing Henry Jackson, the company's CEO.

"No, no, no, this is serious," Obama continued, after several audience members laughed. "The question is whether you guys are shopping effectively enough."

So in other words, Millennium Steel's execs are just shopping wrong.

Obama went on to claim that health insurance premiums are actually at historic 50-year lows, a claim that likely drew more than a few eye rolls from the audience.

As it should have: Study after study has shown that the president is simply not being honest at worst, or is cherry-picking his statistics at best.

As reported by The DC:

According to every Federal Reserve Bank that has released such a report, businesses say that their health care costs are growing due to the health care law. The New York Federal Reserve says a majority of businesses are planning for Obamacare to increase the cost of their health coverage; the Philadelphia Fed noted that Obamacare is keeping many more businesses from hiring.

The Dallas and Atlanta Federal Reserve Banks have come to similar conclusions.

Also, the American Health Policy Institute has recently released a study which shows that most major employers' healthcare plans will cost them between $4,800 and $5,900 per year, per employee.

'Fundamental changes' to health plans

Over the next decade, the think tank found, employers will be on the hook for an additional $186 billion in health premium costs -- money that could instead go toward higher wages, expansion and more hiring.

Because of the additional costs, businesses will instead have to adjust their services and fees to compensate, which means they will likely have to raise prices on consumers to offset the government-mandated expense, conclude the study's authors, former Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Tevi Troy and the institute's chief economist, Mark Wilson.

"Cost increases in the range of $163 million to $200 million per large employer over the course of a decade will not be overlooked by CEOs, CFOs, or Boards of Directors," the authors found. "Employers have a significant incentive to make fundamental changes to their health offerings as a result of the ACA."

But all of that is their fault, not Obama's or the Democrats who passed the "Affordable" Care Act. Just ask them.

Sources:

http://dailycaller.com

http://cnsnews.com

http://www.washingtontimes.com

http://dailysignal.com