To President Obama’s now-infamous promise that Obamacare “will lower premiums” for health insurance can now be added this whopper from Gary Cohen, described by the Wall Street Journal as “a top regulator” at the Department of Health and Human Services: “The prices are affordable.” Judging by the schedule of health insurance premium prices made public this week by the Obama administration for coverage offered on government-run exchanges in 36 states, Cohen certainly has an odd idea of affordability.
Based on the example of a 27-year-old male nonsmoker living in Nashville, Tenn., who presently can get a bare-bones policy for $41 a month, the Journal said the equivalent coverage under Obamacare will cost $114 a month. That’s a 178 percent increase. Obamacare defenders will say that’s an apples-and-oranges comparison since the government mandates benefits that aren’t presently included in a bare-bones policy. That’s true, but it doesn’t change the fact that the young consumer is being forced to pay 178 percent more to buy a product he may not want or need.
