Obamacare 'Bending the Cost Curve' UP

As Michigan legislators debate whether to pass an Obamacare “exchange” that risks entrenching the Patient Protection and Affordability Act, there’s new evidence of how the law will do the very opposite of “bending down the health care cost curve,” as proponents claim. Writing in Forbes, Pacific Research Institute President Sally Pipes reports:

“Richard Foster, the Chief Actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), reports that America will spend an additional $311 billion on health care in the next decade because of the law. CMS estimates the growth in health insurance costs will increase 10 extra percentage points in 2014 because of Obamacare — a 14% increase, versus 3.5% without the law.”

Lawmakers here are hearing lots of “technocratic” explanations from special interests and state bureaucrats on why creating a state exchange now makes their jobs easier. These latest cost figures provide more reason for legislators to listen instead to their constituents, and keep their eye on the bigger picture, rather than taking actions that could make it harder to defeat Obamacare. If the law survives both the Supreme Court next June and the voters next November, there will be time enough then to act on a state exchange.

See also:

Creating Health 'Exchange' Entrenches Obamacare

Obamacare Exchange: The People or the Insurers?

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