More Evidence of Obamacare’s Epic Premium Fail
Late last week, the Des Moines Register ran a story describing how one Iowa insurer’s proposed 9.4 percent rate increase was ruled justified by skyrocketing health costs. The proposed 9.4 percent hike comes after an 8.5 percent premium increase last year, and a whopping 18 percent increase the year before that.
Sadly, these stories are the norm, as premiums continue to spike despite, and in many cases because of, the enactment of Obamacare. Recall that candidate Obama repeatedly promised his health care plan would LOWER premiums by $2,500 per family, and do so within his first term. But the price of the average employer-sponsored plan ROSE by more than $2,200 per family since Obama was first elected in 2008, according to studies from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Therefore, according to candidate Obama’s own metric, President Obama owes American families nearly $5,000 per year – the difference between a $2,200 premium increase and a $2,500 promised premium reduction.
Given last week’s debate, soon to be resumed, on extending the payroll tax holiday, it’s more than a bit rich for President Obama to engage in political messaging regarding a payroll tax holiday amounting to $1,000 for the average family – when his own failure to deliver on his health care promises has forced the average struggling middle-class family to pay nearly $5,000 more per year in premiums than candidate Obama promised.
