Senator, You Got Out-Voted

The Hays Daily News, March 20, included a letter from Sen. Pat Roberts lamenting Friday’s second anniversary of the passage of Obamacare. One of the reasons he is working to repeal health care reform is that “the law…increases premiums for families by $2,100 a year.” I wondered, “Where does that figure come from?”
A quick search showed that same statement had also been made by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. Mike Johans, and Sen. Orrin Hatch. They reference a letter from the Congressional Budget Office to Sen. Evan Bayh written when the Affordable Care Act was being debated.  “Buried deep” on Page 5 is a table that indeed shows some family premiums going up; but only for a certain kind of family.
The Expected Premium Increase Before Accounting for Subsidies for a non-group family is listed as +10 to 13%.  This is where the $2,100 figure comes from. However, the CBO expects this to be only about 17% of the public. These would be the people who can not get insurance through an employer. Most of us would be the Small Group, less than 50 employees (premiums +1 to -2%) or the Large Group, more than 50 employees (premiums 0 to -3%).  The Senators are quoting a figure relating to one piece of the puzzle and telling us that this represents the whole puzzle.
Those figures come from the line labeled “Before Accounting for Subsidies”; you see, Obamacare will give those non-group families a subsidy to help pay for health insurance, if their income is less than 400% of the poverty line (this would effect families making less than $92,200 per year). After Accounting for Subsidies most of those families Sen. Roberts claimed would be getting hit with an increase of $2,100 will actually see a substantial premium reduction (-56 to -59%). I’m surprised Sen. Roberts didn’t see this figure; it is on the very next line.
Senator Roberts, two years ago you and your GOP colleagues argued in Congress to ration health care according to the patient’s wealth and to continue putting insurance company profits ahead of the customer’s health. You got out-voted.