On today’s Morning Joe, MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell has now twice mischaracterized the Congressional Budget Office report on ObamaCare. After stating that she has been “truth-squadding” the claims made in yesterday’s health summit, she stated twice that it does not, in fact, say that the bill would cause insurance premiums to rise, but rather that they would fall by 10-13 percent.
That’s just dead wrong. The 10-13 percent number is the amount that CBO says the premiums will rise, not fall.
Here is what the report actually says:
CBO and [the Joint Committee on Taxation] estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law.
Now, there’s more to the story than that, if you keep reading. After Sen. Lamar Alexander accurately cited the 10-13 percent rise in premiums at the beginning of yesterday’s summit, President Obama conceded the point. However, he added — again accurately — that the reason the premiums rise is that people will be purchasing more comprehensive insurance plans. Here is what Obama said:
“What the Congressional Budget Office is saying is, is that if I now have the opportunity to actually buy a decent package inside the exchange, that costs me about 10% to 13% more but is actually real insurance, then there are going to be a bunch of people who take advantage of that. So yes, I’m paying 10% to 13% more because instead of buying an apple, I’m getting an orange.”
After that, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich, gave the complete story. Premiums will rise by 10 to 13 percent, not because people will voluntarily pay more for “real” insurance, but because the bill contains a mandate that will force consumers to purchase more comprehensive plans with lower deductibles. Less comprehensive, high-deductible plans (which many consumers currently own with Health Savings Accounts) will be banned.
So both Obama and the Republicans gave accurate statements about what the bill will do to consumer insurance prices, but Alexander and Obama each emphasized the part of the facts that support their case.
O’Donnell’s statement, on the other hand, is completely wrong.
