There He Goes Again: Biden Creates Another “Bidenism”
Over the weekend, Joe Biden did what Joe Biden does best – tied his tongue in knots – this time, over claims that Obamacare will actually lower costs for American families. Politico quoted the Vice President as telling one visitor at a deli that Obamacare “will help you dramatically,” because individuals will “be able to get better health care than you had before at a lower cost.” The only problem is that no one believes the claim is true – not fact-checkers, and not the families that have seen premiums go up by over $3,000 since Barack Obama was first elected.
President Obama also keeps trying to peddle the false claim that Obamacare will lower insurance premiums. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, the President claimed that “economists believe family premiums will be about $2,000 less” in 2019 under the law. (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 Obamacare 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.” And the skyrocketing premiums Americans are paying for health insurance are a constant reminder of how Obamacare falls short. Democrats have no answer to the obvious 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? Because, as Joe Biden himself might say, middle-class families paying thousands more in premiums because Obamacare failed to deliver is a really big deal indeed.
