This is an article from 2009:
Health insurance costs rise far more than inflation – Sep. 15, 2009.
The reason I post it is because it highlights the skyrocketing cost of healthcare BEFORE OBAMACARE WAS EVEN PASSED. Many opponents of Obamacare point to the still rising cost of healthcare and blame it on Obamacare (in fact costs have flattened for the first time in decades since Obamacare was passed, though it’s too early to know if it’s a trend). The point is that the main reason Obama and Democrats moved mountains to pass such a transformitive law was because skyrocketing healthcare costs and lack of coverage were reeking increasing havoc on our economy and citizens.
In the 1980s and ’90s, it wasn’t uncommon for total national health care spending to rise by over 10% annually. Through the George W. Bush years costs increased nearly 9% annually. For years, health care spending grew faster than GDP, devouring a larger and larger share of the country’s resources, while leaving less for other national priorities such as education and the environment (more on this historic trend at the link below).
Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/
So when you hear people blame Obamacare for rising health care costs, call them out on it. Point out that 1) health care costs have been rising faster than GDP for decades and 2) health care costs nationally have actually flattened since Obamacare has passed.
