President Barack Obama has said many things, but not many of those things are true.
One of Obama’s many inaccurate statements is that his Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will, in his words, “cover every American.” However, according to a Congressional Budget Office projection, Obamacare, when fully implemented, will not even cover half of currently uninsured Americans. The projection also states that in 2021, there will be 31 million uninsured Americans, which is down from the 55 million uninsured in 2013, but still not anywhere near Obama’s promise of “every American.”
Furthermore, on the Affordable Care Act, Obama has said, “We’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year… by the end of my first term as president.” According to the annual Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey, a family’s average premium in 2009 was $13,375 and had increased, not decreased as Obama said, to $16,531 in 2013. That is a $3,156 increase during his first term as president, not at all what was promised. Not only was Obama wrong, he said the opposite of the truth, with premiums increasing by more than the amount he said they would decrease.
Obama addressed Obamacare in regards to the national budget deficit: “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits.” There is some truth to that statement, as Obamacare will not add one dime to the national deficit, it will add 62 trillion of them in the next 75 years. Therefore, Obamacare would increase the deficit, which is currently $16.7 trillion, by more than one third. This promise is broken in an unthinkable amount, raising a deficit that is already pushing its limit by $6.2 trillion. Doing this is unsustainable economically, and in signing the Affordable Care Act into law, Obama is doing more than lying, he is sending America to economic ruin.
Obama has also said, “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period.” Period, that is it, Obama is telling us that you can keep your doctor no matter what. However, Obama’s statement is not true, as many people have been forced to use a different doctor. As of right now, around 4.2 million people have lost their doctor, and this number is only going to grow. Four point two million people were told the opposite of the truth, they were lied to and are now victims of Obamacare. This disinformation has caused Obamacare to be passed, and now that it is going into effect, the American people are paying.
Sophomore Chris Cardozo said, “When someone is ill, the insurance company will drop them because they will not make enough money and Obamacare will fix this.”
This may be true, but there are also those who are sick and have a good healthcare plan that takes care of them. Under Obamacare, plans similar to these will cost much, much more. And if a sick person makes too much to qualify for a subsidy, but not enough to pay for this similar plan, they get left out in the cold.
Sophomore Vincent Todesco said “A lot of people might have to switch their insurance because it doesn’t meet the new government standards.”
Sophomore Jay Russell said, “If we raise taxes to fund Obamacare, it will stop economic growth. It also comes with a reduction of employment and suppression of wages.”
This stoppage in economic growth will lead to a harder world to get by in, which will lead to families and students, once out of high school, having to work harder just to make end’s meet. The deficit, which will only grow, will add even more taxes that take money from the struggling young adult, the higher premium costs will also serve to take money away from students and their families.