Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Liar-in-Chief (update)
Here ya go, Joe (Wilson), here's another Obama lie 'bout health care (from today's Wall Street Journal):
Speaking of health-care distortions, as President Obama likes to do, consider his assertion to Congress that "buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer." He liked that one so much that he repeated it over the weekend in Minneapolis, this time as a swipe at "the marketplace."
The media’s "fact-check" brigade hasn’t noticed, but this is simply false. The Congressional Budget Office expects premiums for employer-sponsored coverage to cost about $5,000 for singles and $13,000 for families this year on average. "Premiums for policies purchased in the individual market," adds CBO, "are much lower about one-third lower for single coverage and half that level for family policies."
Similarly, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality finds that the growth rate for premiums is also lower for individuals over employers. Mr. Obama’s health team surely knows this dynamic, given that the CBO report was issued under the auspices of Peter Orszag, now the White House budget director.
Speaking of health-care distortions, as President Obama likes to do, consider his assertion to Congress that "buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer." He liked that one so much that he repeated it over the weekend in Minneapolis, this time as a swipe at "the marketplace."
The media’s "fact-check" brigade hasn’t noticed, but this is simply false. The Congressional Budget Office expects premiums for employer-sponsored coverage to cost about $5,000 for singles and $13,000 for families this year on average. "Premiums for policies purchased in the individual market," adds CBO, "are much lower about one-third lower for single coverage and half that level for family policies."
Similarly, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality finds that the growth rate for premiums is also lower for individuals over employers. Mr. Obama’s health team surely knows this dynamic, given that the CBO report was issued under the auspices of Peter Orszag, now the White House budget director.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, September 16, 2009 
