With no signs of avoiding further controversy, the White House has entered the new year with the Obamacare fallout still on the front burner both in Congress and in the media.
Obama’s not so great year ended with egg-on-the-face after revelations from candid videos of health care adviser Jonathan Gruber that the administration had essentially tricked American voters into accepting Obamacare.
All indications are that Gruber’s recent testimony in Congress about those comments will likely not be his last appearance on the Hill. And now new revelations about his role and opinion on the implementation and details of Obamacare shed more negative light on the administration’s tactics.
The Daily Caller revealed last week that Gruber admitted in a 2009 policy brief that Obamacare rates could not be controlled and therefore market effects could likely make them unaffordable. Gruber detailed,
“The problem is it starts to go hand in hand with the mandate; you can’t mandate insurance that’s not affordable. This is going to be a major issue.”
He continued, “So what’s different this time? Why are we closer than we’ve ever been before? Because there are no cost controls in these proposals. Because this bill’s about coverage. Which is good! Why should we hold 48 million uninsured people hostage to the fact that we don’t yet know how to control costs in a politically acceptable way? Let’s get the people covered and then let’s do cost control.”
