After Passage Of Obamacare, American Health Care Costs Accelerating
Remember when President Obama and Democrats told us that Obamacare would make health care and insurance more accessible and affordable? About that:
Spending on health care rose 4.6 percent in 2011 — up $4,500 per person, on average — according to the nonpartisan Health Care Cost Institute. That’s up from a 3.8 growth rate in 2010.
Health insurance premiums for individuals and families also climbed year-over-year, up 3 percent ($186) on average for an individual and 4 percent ($672) on average for a family, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
During Obama’s term, between 2009 to 2012, premiums have climbed $2,370 for the average family with an employer-provided plan – a rate faster than the during the previous four years under President George W. Bush, according to Kaiser.
Keep in mind that President Obama specifically promised that Obamacare was the sort of policy that would drive costs down:
During the 2008 campaign and health care reform debate in 2009, President Obama said repeatedly that his plan would bend the cost curve downward, ultimately saving the average family $2,500 per year.
At a rally in Virginia in June 2008, Obama said: “In an Obama administration, we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.”
So not only are health care costs not going down, they’re actually going up faster than before Obamacare. And why wouldn’t they? Look at the policies Obamacare have instituted. The law expanded mandatory coverage by requiring coverage for “children” up to 26 years of age and allowing people to buy insurance after they’re sick. It layered huge amounts of new bureaucracy and regulation for insurance companies to comply with, and they’ve restricted insurance flexibly through things like health savings accounts and the like.
In summary, more rigidity. More red tape. More mandated coverage. So of course costs are going up. And, of course, Democrats will inevitably use rising costs as justification for further government take overs until we reach the point where we’re all visiting government doctors in government health facilities to get a level of care the government deems is appropriate for us.
Tags: health care costs, obamacare
