A smidgen. That’s how many Americans soon-to-be-former President Barack Obama told voters would experience rate hikes from his signature health care law, Obamacare.
At a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton, Obama referred to the number of people so affected as merely “a handful.”
In the video that follows, he tells the crowd that “it’s true premiums are going up for a handful of people that don’t get tax credits.” For added emphasis, he used a visual aid — a hand gesture — to demonstrate just how small and insignificant is the number of people being hit with rate hikes.
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Take a look for yourself:
https://youtu.be/gkZp0rr5sjc
So how much exactly is a handful in Obama’s world? Here’s CNN:
Obamacare premiums are set to skyrocket an average of 22% for the benchmark silver plan in 2017, according to a government report released Monday.
The price hike is the latest blow to Obamacare. Insurers are raising prices and downsizing their presence on the exchanges as they try to stem losses from sicker-than-anticipated customers. Enrollment for 2017 will be closely watched since insurers want to see younger and healthier consumers enroll.
The benchmark silver plan — upon which federal subsidies are based — will cost an average of $296 a month next year. That figure is based on prices for a 27-year-old enrollee in the 39 states that use the federal healthcare.gov exchange, plus the four states and Washington D.C. that have their own exchanges.
For 2016, the benchmark plan’s premium rose only 7.2%, on average, for the states that use healthcare.gov. (Looking only at states on the federal exchange, premiums are rising 25% for 2017.)
Additionally, a Healthpocket analysis of Obamacare cost increases for 2017 found that premium increases would disproportionately affect older Americans.
Cross-posted at The Lid
