What the CBO actually said about Premiums (They go DOWN)

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/

(This chart is important and handy. I have seen several people on TV today blithely repeating Republican claims that the CBO said average premiums would go up. In fact, I thought they did because I read that here on DU from a mainstream news organization. So the word needs to get out. I am re-posting it because it is from Matt Yglesias, merely linked through Krugman, and may have ended up being missed by people who skip any thread with the word Krugman in it.)

[MNDemNY]

1. Provided, of course , that the insurance industry "plays nice". What are the odds of that?

[dflprincess]

2. Even if premiums do go down

(and you're putting an awful lot of faith in the insurance companies if you think they will)
we'll still be paying more for "coverage" and getting less access to health care than anyone in civilized countries where they have health care, not health insurance programs.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

3. I am not predicting the future, only defending the content of the CBO's predictions

The CBO might be wrong.

But the pugs and 'responsible center' are tearing up the airwaves claiming the CBO is projecting premium increases among semi-high wage families when they are actually predicting small decreases for such families.

As to whether the CBO's crystal ball is working, that's another matter.

[dflprincess]

4. We don't need a crystal ball

even if the CBO predictions are correct we will still have the highest priced insurance with, thanks to the copays and deductibles, the least access to care amount western nations (where they have access to care, not just access to "coverage").

We'll wind up with fewer uninsuerd, but the number of underinsured will continue to climb.