DeParle Op-Ed Admits Obamacare’s Failures
Writing in Politico this morning, White House adviser (and former health “czar”) Nancy-Ann DeParle claims that by 2019, “businesses will save approximately $2,000 per family they insure.” (Assuming of course that businesses are even offering health insurance at all by that point.) The op-ed (conveniently) doesn’t cite a source on this claim, but the Administration has previously invoked a report published by the Business Roundtable in November 2009 (i.e., before the health care law was even enacted) to make this assertion. However, the Roundtable’s study only presumes a reduction in the increase of premiums. Don’t take my word for it: Look at Exhibit 1 of the study (depicted below), which study illustrates that under the maximum achievable “savings,” large employer premiums in 2019 will be $23,151 per family – or $12,408 higher than they were in 2009.
The President repeatedly promised during his campaign that he would “cut” premiums – meaning they would go DOWN, not merely just “go up by less than projected.” Once again, the skyrocketing premiums Americans are paying for health insurance in their paychecks are a constant reminder of how the health care law falls short. Sooner or later, Democrats will have to answer the question: How is a $12,400 increase in premiums – as opposed to the $2,500 reduction that candidate Obama repeatedly promised – a change that struggling middle-class families can believe in?
