Quick Fact: Baier Distorts CBO Report To Claim Premiums "Will Actually Go Up" Under Senate Bill

http://mediamatters.org/research/200912010048
On Fox News' Special Report, anchor Bret Baier misrepresented the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the Senate health care bill's effect on insurance premiums by claiming that "depending on how you read" the report, insurance "premiums for many people will actually go up" under the bill. In fact, CBO estimated that premiums would only increase for individuals purchasing insurance on their own -- about 17 percent of the insurance market in 2016 -- and that affordability credits would substantially lower costs for many of those individuals, a majority of whom would receive those subsidies through the exchanges.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Media
• Media Matters
• Media Matters for America
• Bret Baier
• Fox
• Fox News
• Special Report
• CBO
• Senate
• Congress
• Health
• Health Care
• Health Care Reform
• HCR

[Guernicaman]

Well, he did use the phrase, "depending on how you read it", which in other words means, "reading it while wearing GOP-issued glasses".

[kurtkobain1234]

That's why they don't claim to be news, unlike your beloved fox.

[mrthebillman]

@saxon6732 A staffer brought in a note? Did you get to read this note? How much FOX News do you watch?

[saxon6732]

Actually its true. The senate bill will raise insurance premiums 13-15%. If you watched the health care summit as I did. You would have seen that a staffer brought in a note to Obama stating this. Later Obama acknowledged this but his defense was that your health insurance would be better. Really?

[calandur]

Yet again liberals fail to grasp the difference between cost and price. If the government subsidizes the price of premiums to lower prices they are not lowering costs. The real costs are still being payed by someone (i.e. taxpayers). It's like if the government burns tons of cornfields. When the price of corn subsequently doubles from $5 to $10 an ear they give the corn vendors $6 an ear and tell everyone "look we lowered the price of corn to $4 with our grand field-burning plan!!" Pure idiocy.

[fearnoevilexceptbush]

@Mournbalde 3: the laws, for instance: any insurer must accept all applicants regardless of their condition (level playing field for all insurers) and at least this, that and the other thing must be covered. I don't see anything wrong with that. Not having this has enormous costs to USA as well, both financially and in direct deaths (runs in the tens of thousands).

[fearnoevilexceptbush]

@Mournbalde 2: A perfect example where the private sector is failing, is the health insurance. Modern and rich country as the USA, yet tens of millions of people without insurance. The costs are unsustainable - the farmaceuticals made sure it stayed that way: bought and paid for both parties - and lots of people get kicked out as soon as they make a claim under the pretext of some nonsensical pre-condition. The government shouldn't provide private sector services and goods, but lay down...

[fearnoevilexceptbush]

@Mournbalde: could you have a discussion without nonsensical remarks? 'People on the left filled with hate', 'your hate is being used to destroy America': you don't know the first thing about me, yet you already labelled me with this nonsense.

In the private sector, you can only take your business elsewhere if there is an elsewhere. With your Big Firms, there is by definition no meaningful competition (hence anti-trust laws) and are therefor damned expensive on the consumer.

[Mournbalde]

Are the people on the left so filled with hate that they need to make up demons to go after ie Big oil, Big insurance, Big doctors, Big, Big, Big. Do you realize that the only thing getting "BIGGER" is our Government and its spending. Your hate is being used to destroy America. Open your eyes and see how much good is in America and what it has overcome so that you and I can have this debate.

[Mournbalde]

In the private sector if you dont like the service you can always switch companys, but with BIG Government you your shit out of luck.

[Mournbalde]

Name one thing the government runs or has taken over that does not need mass amount of tax dollar bailout money to keep from going bankrupt.

[fearnoevilexceptbush]

@Mournbalde 2: All of a sudden, Father State - the taxpayer - was good enough to bail all these efficient companies and their ridiculously overpaid managers out of the mess they had created themselves. And who do you think pays for all these greedy corporate executives, eh? You, when you buy any service or product. In the end, we all pay, but the State - collective of us all - has no profitgoal.

Btw: private monopolies are damned expensive on any consumer!