Hillary Clinton labeled major issues with Obamacare, including the considerable increase in insurance premium rates and lower-quality care, temporary “glitches” that can be fixed with time.
“For Americans who already had health insurance, the cost has gone up 27 percent in the last five years while deductibles are up 67 percent — healthcare costs are rising faster than many Americans can manage. What’s broken in Obamacare and what needs to be fixed now?” ABC’s Martha Raddatz asked Clinton Saturday during the third Democratic debate.
“I would certainly build on the successes of the Affordable Care Act and work to fix some of the glitches that you just referenced,” Clinton, who leads the Democratic presidential field, responded.
The former secretary of state praised Obama’s signature healthcare law for enabling individuals with pre-existing conditions to purchase insurance, allowing young Americans to remain on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26 and for eliminating differences in premium costs for men and women.
“Those are all really positive developments” she said.
Clinton noted that she has proposed a $5,000 tax credit for “people with very large out-of-pocket costs” under Obamacare.
“I’m going through and analyzing the points you’re making, Martha, and we don’t have enough competition and we don’t have enough oversight for what the insurance companies are charging people right now,” Clinton added.
“But you did say those are just glitches? Twenty-seven percent [cost increases] in the last five years, deductibles up 67 percent?” Raddatz interjected.
“It is, because part of this is the startup challenges this system is facing,” Clinton argued, adding that “one of the reasons costs have gone up in some states is because governors there wouldn’t extend Medicaid.”
