Research

Obama Promised His 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)

But  A Thomson Reuters Report Finds That Health Care Costs “Increased 4 Percent In The Third Quarter Of 2011.” “The cost of health care increased 4 percent in the third quarter of 2011 from the previous year, at least for people with employer-sponsored health insurance. The news come from the Thomson Reuters Healthcare Spending Index for Private Insurers, and also shows a .9 percent increase over the second quarter of 2011.” (Amy Gillentine, “Health Insurance Increased 4 Percent In Third Quarter 2011,” The Colorado Spring Business Journal, 2/6/12)

• Gary Pickens – Chief Research Officer At Thomson Reuters Center For Health Care Analytics: Across The Country Health Insurance Costs Are Continuing To Increase. “Insurance costs are still on the rise... While there has been a light slow down due to the pace of growth, overall rates are still increasing nationwide.” (Amy Gillentine, “Health Insurance Increased 4 Percent In Third Quarter 2011,” The Colorado Spring Business Journal, 2/6/12)
• Raymond Fabius – Chief Medical Officer At Thomson Reuters: Health Care Spending Has Increased At “An Unsustainable Pace For Our Economy.” “What’s most noteworthy here is that medical spending is continuing to accelerate at a significantly faster rate than the Consumer Price Index; an unsustainable pace for our economy.” (“Thomson Reuters Index: Insurance Costs Climb 4 Percent For Q3 2011,” CBS Detroit, 2/6/12)

Factcheck.org: ObamaCare “Falls Short Of Making Health Care ‘Affordable 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. The law provides subsidies to help some Americans buy insurance, expands Medicaid and doesn’t allow insurance companies to exclude persons with preexisting conditions. But still, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected 23 million persons will remain uninsured — some because they can’t afford coverage.” (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)