Obama Sold Americans A Tonic That Has Made Them Worse Off
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OBAMA PROMISED THAT AMERICANS WOULD SAVE ON THEIR PREMIUMS
Obama Repeatedly Promised That His Health Care Plan Would"Bring Down Premiums By $2,500 For The Typical Family." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks Of Senator Barack Obama At Campaign Event, Raleigh, NC, 6/9/08)
Obama: "All this is going to lower premiums. It's going to make healthcare more affordable." (President Obama, Remarks At A Q&A Session, Falls Church, VA, 9/22/10)
Obama: "This law will lower premiums." (President Obama, Remarks At The 2011 Families USA Health Action Conference , Washington, DC, 1/28/11)
Obama: ObamaCare Would Provide "Cost-Savings" To Employers. "Americans who get their insurance through the workplace, cost-savings could be as much as $3,000 less per employer than if we do nothing. Now, think about that. That's $3,000 your employer doesn't have to pay, which means maybe she can afford to give you a raise." (President Barack Obama, Remarks At George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 3/19/10)
OBAMA'S PREMIUMS PROMISE PROVED TO BE NOTHING BUT BUNK
Health Care Premiums Have Increased By 12.7 Percent Under Obama
Under Obama, The Cost Of Family Health Care Premiums Has Increased From $13,375 To $15,073. (Phil Galewitz And Andrew Villegas, "Workers Face Higher Costs For Employer-Sponsored Insurance," Kaiser Health News, 9/15/09; Julie Appleby, "Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011," Kaiser Health News , 9/27/11)
Factcheck.org: ObamaCare "Falls Short Of Making Health Care 'Af
fordable And Available To Every Single American,' As Promised." "Furthermore, the law falls short of making health care 'affordable and available to every single American,' as promised." (D'Angelo Gore, "Promises, Promises," Factcheck.org, 1/4/12)
Factcheck.org: ObamaCare Is Actually Making Health Care "Less Affordable." "At the moment, the new law is making health care slightly less affordable. Independent health care experts say the law has caused some insurance premiums to rise. As we wrote in October, the new law has caused about a 1 percent to 3 percent increase in health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored family plans because of requirements for increased benefits. Last year's premium increases cast even more doubt on another promise the president has made - that the health care law would 'lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.'" (D'Angelo Gore, "Promises, Promises," Factcheck.org, 1/4/12)
The Washington Post 's The Fact Checker: "Moreover, at this point it is debatable whether the law has made health care more affordable. Insurance premiums have gone up, in part because of new benefits mandated by the law." (Glenn Kessler, "The Fine Print In Obama's 'Promises Kept' Ad," The Washington Post's " The Fact Checker," 1/6/12)
Insurance Premiums Continue To Skyrocket
In 2011, The Cost Of Health Insurance Climbed, Outpacing "Any Growth In Workers' Wages." "The cost of health insurance for many Americans this year climbed more sharply than in previous years, outstripping any growth in workers' wages and adding more uncertainty about the pace of rising medical costs." (Reed Abelson, "U.S. Health Insurance Cost Rises Sharply, Study Finds," The New York Times , 9/27/11)
Kaiser Study Found That Family Coverage Premiums "Climbed" 9 Percent In 2011. "A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group that tracks employer-sponsored health insurance on a yearly basis, shows that the average annual premium for family coverage through an employer reached $15,073 in 2011, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year." (Reed Abelson, "U.S. Health Insurance Cost Rises Sharply, Study Finds," The New York Times , 9/27/11)
Workers Paid An Average Of $132 More For Family Coverage In 2011 Than They Did In 2010.
"Although premiums rose, employers kept the percentage of the premium workers pay about the same: An average of 18 percent for single coverage and 28 percent for family plans. Still, with rising costs, workers paid more, up an average of $132 a year for family coverage. Since 1999, the dollar amount workers contribute toward premiums nationally has grown 168 percent, while their wages have grown by 50 percent, according to the survey." (Julie Appleby, "Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011," Kaiser Health News , 9/27/11)
The Cost Of Single Employee Coverage Grew 8 Percent According To The Kaiser Survey. "Family plan premiums hit $15,073 on average, while coverage for single employees grew 8 percent to $5,429, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. (KHN is an editorially-independent program of the foundation.)" (Julie Appleby, "Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011," Kaiser Health News , 9/27/11)
"The Results Mark A Sharp Departure From 2010, When The Same Survey Found Average Family Premiums Up Only 3 Percent." (Julie Appleby, "Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011," Kaiser Health News , 9/27/11)
A Majority Of Americans Are "Seeing Higher Premiums"
Six Of Ten Americans Are Seeing Higher Insurance Premiums. "Many say they are feeling the impact: six of 10 people with private insurance are seeing higher premiums; half cite increases in their co-pays and deductibles." (Jordan Rau, "Poll Finds Americans Gloomy On Some Promises In Health Law, Kaiser Health News , 7/28/11)
One In Five Families Pay Over $18,000 In Premiums A Year. "Even though the average family premium is about $15,000, coverage for one in five families tops $18,087." (Jane M. Von Bergen, "Health Insurance Costs Skyrocketing," The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/27/11)
Families Are Still Struggling To Pay Their Medical Bills
Nearly Two Years After ObamaCare Was Enacted, A Government Study Found That More Americans Are Struggling To Pay Their Medical Bills Due To The High Cost Of Health Care. "While politicians and soon, the Supreme Court, are fighting about the fate of the Affordable Care Act, a new government study finds that a growing number of Americans are having difficulty coping with the high cost of health care." (Julie Rovner, "1 In 3 Americans Is Having A Hard Time Paying Medical Bills," NPR, 3/7/12)
Those Numbers Are Worse Than Previous Studies. "Earlier studies had shown that 1 in 5 Americans had trouble paying his medical bills. But this study is larger and asked questions - such as whether people are paying medical bills over time - that researchers have not asked previously." (Julie Rovner, "1 In 3 Americans Is Having A Hard Time Paying Medical Bills," NPR, 3/7/12)
Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Found That "1 In 3 People Lived In A Family That Had Trouble Paying Its Medical Bills." "During the first six months of 2011, 1 in 3 people lived in a family that had trouble paying its medical bills within the previous year; was currently paying a medical bill over time; or currently had a medical bill the family was unable to pay at all. That's according to a survey of more than 50,000 people by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." (Julie Rovner, "1 In 3 Americans Is Having A Hard Time Paying Medical Bills," NPR, 3/7/12)
ObamaCare Is Forcing Employers To Pass Higher Costs Onto Their Employees
Higher Health Care Costs Are Causing Employers To Pass On The Burden To Their Employees. "As health care costs continue to rise, businesses are increasingly passing on the added burden to their employees." (Sam Baker, "Survey: Employers Shift Rising Health Costs To Their Workers," The Hill's " Health Watch," 8/18/11)
To Counter Rising Health Care Costs, Employers Are "Raising Deductibles, Increasing Paycheck Contributions, And Moving Employees To Lower-Cost Health Plans." "Employers surveyed by Mercer say they have been trying to contain health care costs by raising deductibles, increasing paycheck contributions, and moving employees to lower-cost health plans." (Deborah Brunswick, "Health Insurance Costs To Rise Again Next Year," CNN Money, 9/22/11)
Employees Are Now Paying More For Their Employer-Sponsored Health Care. "Workers are picking up a bigger share of health insurance costs and face more restrictions on coverage this year, a survey of large companies reveals." (Jeffrey Young, "Health Insurance Costs More, Covers Less, Survey Says," The Huffington Post, 3/8/12)
Towers Watson Survey Found That Employees Now Pay $2,764 More Than Last Year. "The average amount employees paid for health insurance through work rose 9.3 percent to $2,764 in 2012, a 40 percent increase from 2007, according to a survey released today by the consulting firm Towers Watson and the trade organization National Business Group on Health." (Jeffrey Young, "Health Insurance Costs More, Covers Less, Survey Says," The Huffington Post, 3/8/12)
What The Future Holds For American Families
Study Finds That "Insurance Premiums Will Surpass The Median U.S. Household Income In 2033." "If current trends continue, health insurance premiums will surpass the median U.S. household income in 2033, a new study says. Using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and the U.S. Census Bureau, researchers calculated the premiums paid by Americans from 2000 to 2009 and compared them to incomes. They found that insurance premiums rose 8 percent from 2000 to 2009, while household incomes rose only about 2 percent." (Jenifer Goodwin, "Health Insurance Premiums Will Surpass Median Household Income In 2033: Study," US News And World Report's " Health Day ," 3/12/12)
Families Will Spend Half Of Their Household Income On Insurance Premiums In Just 9 Short Years. "If those same rates continue during the next two decades, the average cost of a family health-insurance premium will hit half of median household income by 2021 and surpass it by 2033, the study found. The median household income was $49,800 in 2009. The study is published in the March/April issue of the Annals of Family Medicine." (Jenifer Goodwin, "Health Insurance Premiums Will Surpass Median Household Income In 2033: Study," US News And World Report's " Health Day ," 3/12/12)
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