AP: Health Insurance Premiums Would Rise Under Obama Plan

Meredith Jessup | March 17, 2010 1:04 PM

President Obama claims his health care plan will lower insurance premiums for Americans by double digits, but the Associated Press this afternoon is saying not so fast, "check the fine print."

Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say. If cost controls work as advertised, annual increases would level off with time. But don't look for a rollback. Instead, the main reason premiums would be more affordable is that new government tax credits would help cover the cost for millions of people.

In addition, the AP acknowledges that Obama is traveling about the country giving people the wrong impression of his plan. Assuming the president misspoke when he promised premiums will go down a whopping 3,000%, there's no real evidence to suggest his plan will bring down premiums at all:

"There's no question premiums are still going to keep going up," said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a research clearinghouse on the health care system. "There are pieces of reform that will hopefully keep them from going up as fast. But it would be miraculous if premiums actually went down relative to where they are today."

<insert obvious miracle/messiah joke here>

Click here to read the full AP "fact check."