One of Obamacare’s key architects said Wednesday morning that Americans weren’t being penalized enough for forgoing health insurance coverage, which he characterized as “probably the most important thing experts would agree on” as it relates to improving the law.
CNN’s Carol Costello asked Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economist who previously aided the creation of “Romneycare” in Massachusetts, for a “fix that would drive premiums down”. The Obama administration reported in the last week that the average monthly premium for a 27 year old with a midlevel plan on the federal exchange would increase by 25 percent. Here is Gruber’s response:
In 2016, the Obamacare penalty for not having health insurance is whatever is larger between 2.5 percent of household income above the yearly tax filing threshold or $695 for an adult (and a maximum of $2,085 for a family).
Gruber said he wished that the mandate penalty was stronger from the outset, and that “the federal government had done more to get states to expand their Medicaid programs.” But as for the present, he insists that the system “largely works”, and he foresees the system working itself out without much government intervention.
“I think nothing much is going to happen, to be honest. I think that basically [it’s] a system that largely works, that the flaws you’re seeing now, or the premium increases you’re seeing now, are just the natural dynamics of a market as it transitions to its new state, and I think that we’re just going to let it go for a couple of years, and it’s going to get better on its own,” he said.
