The whole article is required reading, from the New York Magazine:
Health-care reform is Barack Obama’s highest-profile achievement — though I’d rank it behind his response to climate change as his most significant — and the one that is most likely to symbolize his success or failure as a president. For that reason, Republicans insisted from the outset that the law was failing: They couldn’t fix the website in time, more people would lose insurance than would gain it, medical inflation would skyrocket, and on and on. More recently, two statements have renewed their fervor. First, New York Times reporter Robert Pear published a story headlined “Ailing Obama Health Care Act May Have to Change to Survive.” And second, Bill Clinton was quoted describing the law as a “crazy system.” The right-wing news media have processed these stories as evidence that even liberals admit Obamacare is doomed.
They are evidence of nothing of the sort.
1. Clinton was not describing Obamacare as “crazy.” Jeffrey Young provides the full context of Clinton’s quote, which was a slightly mangled version of a similar riff the former president gave the same day. Clinton’s point in both appearances was that he views Obamacare as a “remarkable success,” but one that’s failed to provide help for people just out of range of qualifying for its subsidies.
2. Obamacare is a tremendous success. The law has given 20 million more Americans access to health insurance, and its cost reforms have helped keep medical inflation at historic lows. The combination of those two achievements is astounding: The federal government is spending less on health care now, after Obamacare’s coverage expansion, than it was projected to spend before Obamacare was signed into law.
3. Premiums are still low. The law may have to change to survive, but it probably won’t. Initial premiums for the exchanges came in dramatically lower than projected, which was incredibly good news. But those premiums were too low. Many insurers discovered they couldn’t compete at such low price levels, and some of them have dropped out of the markets, which is bad. Still, even after prices are corrected, premiums remain more than $600 below their initial forecasts:
![[Image: 07-benchmark-premiums-chart.w710.h473.2x.jpg]](http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/07/07-benchmark-premiums-chart.w710.h473.2x.jpg)
Premiums on the exchanges are also 10 percent lower than employer-sponsored insurance. The difference is that the cost of employer-sponsored insurance is hidden — we’re automatically enrolled, and the premiums are deducted from our paychecks, while the cost of enrolling in the exchanges is completely transparent. “You’ve got the full sticker price in front of you – and it can be shocking,” health-care expert Linda Blumberg told the Washington Post.
- 20M newly insured people
- Healthcare inflation curve bended
- Premiums are still more than $600 below their forecast and 10% lower than employer sponsored healthcare premiums..
Health-care reform is Barack Obama’s highest-profile achievement — though I’d rank it behind his response to climate change as his most significant — and the one that is most likely to symbolize his success or failure as a president. For that reason, Republicans insisted from the outset that the law was failing: They couldn’t fix the website in time, more people would lose insurance than would gain it, medical inflation would skyrocket, and on and on. More recently, two statements have renewed their fervor. First, New York Times reporter Robert Pear published a story headlined “Ailing Obama Health Care Act May Have to Change to Survive.” And second, Bill Clinton was quoted describing the law as a “crazy system.” The right-wing news media have processed these stories as evidence that even liberals admit Obamacare is doomed.
They are evidence of nothing of the sort.
1. Clinton was not describing Obamacare as “crazy.” Jeffrey Young provides the full context of Clinton’s quote, which was a slightly mangled version of a similar riff the former president gave the same day. Clinton’s point in both appearances was that he views Obamacare as a “remarkable success,” but one that’s failed to provide help for people just out of range of qualifying for its subsidies.
2. Obamacare is a tremendous success. The law has given 20 million more Americans access to health insurance, and its cost reforms have helped keep medical inflation at historic lows. The combination of those two achievements is astounding: The federal government is spending less on health care now, after Obamacare’s coverage expansion, than it was projected to spend before Obamacare was signed into law.
3. Premiums are still low. The law may have to change to survive, but it probably won’t. Initial premiums for the exchanges came in dramatically lower than projected, which was incredibly good news. But those premiums were too low. Many insurers discovered they couldn’t compete at such low price levels, and some of them have dropped out of the markets, which is bad. Still, even after prices are corrected, premiums remain more than $600 below their initial forecasts:
Premiums on the exchanges are also 10 percent lower than employer-sponsored insurance. The difference is that the cost of employer-sponsored insurance is hidden — we’re automatically enrolled, and the premiums are deducted from our paychecks, while the cost of enrolling in the exchanges is completely transparent. “You’ve got the full sticker price in front of you – and it can be shocking,” health-care expert Linda Blumberg told the Washington Post.