Pile of Bovine Excrement
Remember “if you like your healthcare plan you can keep it?” Yeah, that was a pretty good Obama lie. In fact it was PolitiFact’s 2013 “Lie of the Year” and also topped the Washington Post’s “Biggest Pinocchios of 2013” – “Pinocchio” being a nice of way of saying “pile of bovine excrement.”
Of course, we’re quite used to wading through great piles of organic fecal material with regards to this administration (red lines in Syria, degrade and destroy ISIS, al-Qaida is decimated), but it does seem the greatest falsehood perpetrated on the American populace was his signature achievement called Obamacare.
Now, before we get to the statistics, take a little stroll down memory lane with me and listen to Obama promise YOU, the American sucker taxpayer that with the passage of Obamacare, health premiums for a family of four will go down $2500 a year.
Gosh it sure sounded good. But. All. Lies.
According to Investors Business Daily, “since 2008, average family premiums have climbed a total of $4,865.”
For those of you mathematically challenged, the difference between going down $2,500 and going up is $4,865 is $7,365. Not what I’d call a “rounding error.”
However, you really have to give credit to the White House. They’ve discovered more ways to spin than carnival ride designers. After this fact was revealed, (according to the annual Kaiser Family Foundation report), the White House said it was actually great news because it meant premium costs were rising more slowly than before.
Ohhhh, riiiight.
Now to be fair (and balanced), at least that part is true. Investors Business Daily says “since 2006, the average annual increase for family plans at work has been 4.9%, down from around 10% a year from 1999-2005.”
But President Obama did NOT say, hey guys this is a great plan because your premiums will go up not quite as fast. That’s not a particularly compelling promise.
“If what he meant was “we’re going to keep the rate of increase in premiums about where it’s been for several years now,” he was being purposefully misleading.” [GASP! Our PRESIDENT being purposefully misleading??]
“Of course, even if he did mean what he didn’t say, Obama can’t claim credit for the slowdown.
The truth is that the current trend started in 2006, long before Obama took office, and longer still before ObamaCare took effect.
And the continued trend of modest premium increases has been due largely to the shift in the employer market toward health savings account-type plans, which just happened to hit the market in 2005.”
Oh — health savings account-type plans. Isn’t that what conservatives have been recommending for like…ever?
[Note: This article was written by Michele Hickford]
allenbwest.com/2015/09/healthcare-premiums-up-4865-since-obama-promised-to-cut-them-2500/
