David Simas, a White House staffer, tweets (and the White House retweets) a link to an article and adds, “More good ACA [Obamacare] news. 21% savings on premiums for Ohioans who buy their own health insurance because of the ACA.”
Indeed, the article begins: “Ohioans who buy their own health insurance should see an average out-of-pocket savings on premiums of 21 percent because of taxpayer subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study by the Rand Corp., a widely respected think tank.”
But the 21 percent is not a savings over current premium levels, but projected increased premiums:
Based on that calculation, the average premium for individual policies in Ohio would rise by $900, or 22.65 percent…
The price hike would be offset for many Ohioans by the taxpayer subsidy.
So the 21 percent “savings” doesn’t actually even quite make up for the 22.65 percent increase in average premiums. And the savings are only for those getting subsidies. Those paying the full premium themselves will get hit with the full 22.65 percent increase.
It should be noted also that the raw comparison of premiums, before Rand adjusted for what it considered pertinent factors, was even higher:
And this is the kind of article the Obama administration considers good news worth promoting.
