Another Way Obamacare Fails to Deliver
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced today that Medicare Part B premiums would rise by $3.50 per month in 2012. The Administration is trying to bill this announcement as evidence that Obamacare is working – but the reality is just the opposite. First, candidate Obama promised to CUT premiums by an average of $2,500 per family – so ANY premium increase by definition means the law has failed to achieve its promised savings.
Part B premiums will rise by less than projected, however, which the Administration is claiming is due to Obamacare’s “investment” in prevention (read: jungle gyms). That however is NOT what the non-partisan Medicare actuary concluded was responsible for the overall slowdown in the growth of health costs; here’s the first paragraph of the actuary’s most recent summary of national health expenditure projections:
In 2010, NHE is projected to have reached $2.6 trillion and grown 3.9 percent, down from 4.0 percent in 2009. Estimated spending growth in 2010 was slow due to continuing declines in employment and private health insurance coverage associated with the recent recession.
In other words, spending growth was slower – and the Medicare premium hike lower – than projected NOT because Obamacare worked, but because the Obama “stimulus” didn’t. That’s not exactly a success story the Administration should be trumpeting today.