ObamaCare architect: Health insurance premiums will rise, not fall, under law

posted at 1:09 pm on February 11, 2012 by

The other shoe has finally dropped in the Obama administration’s magical thinking about the cost of health insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act. From The Daily Caller:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jonathan Gruber, who also devised former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s statewide health care reforms, is backtracking on an analysis he provided the White House in support of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, informing officials in three states that the price of insurance premiums will dramatically increase under the reforms.

The revelation, as DC writer Myles Miller notes, is in direct contradiction to the president’s claim that premiums under his health reform law would be “lower than they would be otherwise; health care costs overall are going to be lower than they would be otherwise.” The new report also flies in the face of Gruber’s own 2009 projections that the law would “significantly reduce, not increase, non-group premiums.”

Echoing conservative reservations about the effects of the law on the marketplace, Gruber now acknowledges that “even after tax credits some individuals are ‘losers,’ in that they pay more than before [Obama's] reform.”

The chilling effect of ObamaCare on jobs has also been well-documented. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Outlook Survey conducted in July of 2011 noted that 33% of business owners identified the health care law as either the greatest or second-greatest obstacle to new hiring that employers faced.

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“The chilling effect of ObamaCare on jobs has also been well-documented. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Outlook Survey conducted in July of 2011 noted that 33% of business owners identified the health care law as either the greatest or second-greatest obstacle to new hiring that employers faced.”
I do medical transcription and since this crap started, I’ve lost quite a few accounts. The docs are afraid and I’m afraid I’ll be out of work sometime soon. Sigh…

chickie on February 11, 2012 at 1:25 PM

Wow, almost two years after it was passed (March 23, 2010) they’re finally catching up to the rest of us. Obamascare to American is like the iceberg that doomed the Titanic–and it could’ve totally been avoided.

stukinIL4now on February 11, 2012 at 1:45 PM

Are they going to change the official name for Unconstitutional Obamacare to the:

2010 Unaffordable Care Act?

Unconstitutional Obamacare is going to cost more, take away our Liberty and make visiting the doctor as bad as going to the DMV and the IRS all at once.

Could someone please explain why in tarnation we’re Downgrading our Healthcare system like this?

Chip on February 11, 2012 at 2:24 PM

This shows what happens when the political and business elite ban together to make something happen that we the people don’t want. IMO Obamacare passed more because big business, big labor (don’t ask me why), and the elitist left (like AARP, Planned Parenthood, the AMA, the ABA) wanted it. It was a near thing – it was almost defeated and those who voted for it against the wishes of their constituents are mostly all on the bench politically. My company supported it (cost savings estimated in the $300 million annual range, even taking into account the fine for dumping us on the taxpayer), AARP stands to make lots of money from Medicare supplement insurance, etc, etc. With this being the case, I’m afraid we’re stuck with some or most of it. Despite the repeal rhetoric, when the rubber meets the road (and the political donations hit – or don’t hit – the pocket) the same combinations and groups are still supporting it. AT&T and GE count far more than you and I.

jclittlep on February 11, 2012 at 2:34 PM

informing officials in three states that the price of insurance premiums will dramatically increase under the reforms.

An Obamacare shill now admitting that not only will Obamacare cause health insurance premiums to go up, they will be going up “dramatically.”

Nice work, Dims.

AZCoyote on February 11, 2012 at 2:57 PM

Jonathan Grubers bio from MIT.edu

During the 1997-1998 academic year, Dr. Gruber was on leave as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department. He was a key architect of Massachusetts’ ambitious health reform effort, and in 2006 became an inaugural member of the Health Connector Board, the main implementing body for that effort. In that year, he was named the 19th most powerful person in health care in the United States by Modern Healthcare Magazine. During the 2008 he was a consultant to the Clinton, Edwards and Obama Presidential campaigns and was called by the Washington Post, “possibly the [Democratic] party’s most influential health-care expert.”

You lunatics he worked for the Clinton Administration, it is not his job to make Mitt Romney look good…

Fleuries on February 11, 2012 at 6:46 PM

Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jonathan Gruber…

Yet another NE liberal who can’t find his butt with both hands.

RJL on February 12, 2012 at 5:48 PM

During the ’08 campaign, didn’t Obama promise his health care reform would save each family $2,500 a year and that you could keep your current provider and Doctor? Well, that didn’t work out, did it? Now the narrative has changed to, healthcare cost is lower than it otherwise would has been. Huh? The stimulus was going to keep unemployment under 8%. Well, the U3 was nearly 10% nationally and over 12% in many states. So now, the narrative is, unemployment is lower than it otherwise would have been without the stimulus. I’m seeing a pattern emerging here that ought to make for a snappy re-election slogan.

Reelect Obama
Things Are Much Better Than They Otherwise Would Have
Been, You Can Trust Me On That.

Boy, I can hardly wait for that bumper sticker.

SpiderMike on February 12, 2012 at 6:59 PM