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ObamaCare Broken Promises Continue: Higher Costs and Fewer with Employer-Sponsored Health Care

September 25, 2012 — The Prescription Pad   

In 2009, President Obama promised the American people that his health care plan, “will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government.”

Now:
The verdict is in, and it is clear that President Obama has failed to deliver.  Instead, the Democrats’ health care law has increased health care costs and has made it harder to maintain health insurance in the workplace.

The nonpartisan Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) report, Health Care Cost and Utilization Report (2011), shows that health care prices increased at a faster rate in 2011 than 2010 – and that fewer people have employer-sponsored insurance (ESI).  The report found that:

  • “Between 2010 and 2011, estimated per capita expenditure for claims filed under ESI rose 4.6 percent, from $4,349 to $4,547.  In comparison, spending growth was 3.8 percent for 2009-2010.”
     
  • Both employers and employees are paying more in health care costs.  As the report notes, “Estimated per capita spending out-of-pocket was $735 in 2011, a 4.6 percent increase over 2010.  Health plans and employers saw per capita spending rise by 4.5 percent to $3,812.”
     
  • “HCCI estimated that 156.5 million people had ESI in 2010, compared with 156.0 million people in 2011, a 0.3 percent decline.”
     
  • For 2011, “HCCI found increases in prices were the primary cause of increased health care spending for the privately insured younger than 65 and covered by ESI.”


  

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