Friday, December 13, 2013

Obamacare exposes Republican hypocrisy on health care

Obamacare exposes Republican hypocrisy on health care.

"Republicans have zeroed in on two things that people really will hate about insurance under Obamacare: The high deductibles and the limited networks."

"What's confusing about this line of attack is that high-deductible health-care plans -- more commonly known as "health savings accounts" -- were, before Obamacare, a core tenet of Republican health-care policy thinking. In fact, one of the major criticisms of Obamacare was that it would somehow kill those plans off. "

"Obama's pledge that "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" is also under fire. The issue here is that insurers entering the competitive health marketplaces are tightening their networks in order to cut costs and improve quality. It's worked: Premiums in the marketplaces are far lower than was expected when Obamacare passed. This, too, is a success for a longtime conservative health-policy idea. Insurance exchanges have been in every major Republican health-care bill since the early 1990s. They were in Paul Ryan's 2009 health-care proposal. They're the basis of the GOP's plan for Medicare reform."

Krugman has his take, A Health Care Mystery Explained

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