0
0
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), joins Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly to discuss some of the problems with the law.
"Your reporter did a very nice job of cherry-picking only the most extreme," he said about the cost increases associated with Obamacare. "They don't raise premiums across the board. Some have gone up higher than others, but... the premium hikes are because they came in, they did recalibrate the market. They were trying to get market share, and it is a correction. It is a problem that we do need to address. But it is not across the board. On average, we do not have higher than 15% increases in premiums. And it is going to be a one time increase."
"Republicans bear some of the responsibility for this," he said. "Remember: Marco Rubio eliminated some of the risk adjustment that actually buffered and helped the insurance companies in this situation. He took it out of the budget. And that is a serious problem... There is not plenty of blame [to go around], it is Republicans."
"You are the architect of the law, sir," interrupted Megyn Kelly. "Let's start with you. When I get Marco Rubio here, we'll talk to him. You're the architect. You said it was going to be stable, and what we're hearing today from the chief executive of the national association of health underwriters is: In many states, the individual market is 'in a shamble.' Shambles, not stable."
"One of the things we built into the law was various ways of providing risk corridors and risk adjustment, so insurers would be protected against getting too many sick people, which is the heart of the problem. Marco Rubio, in the senate, took that away and destabilized the market. When I told you two years ago it was going to be a stable market, those risk protections were in place. And the Republicans took it away... Republicans bear a major responsibility!"