Confirmed: ObamaCare will destroy jobs, raise premiums

Today we confirmed what most people have suspected for a long time: If passed, ObamaCare will take a wrecking ball to the economy. Two different studies came out today that show just how much economic wreckage there would be.

The first, conducted by Americans for Tax Reform and the Beacon Hill Institute of Suffolk University, technically hasn't been released yet, but the blog Hot Air got a sneak peek. Nancy Pelosi has been going around telling people that health care reform could create up to four million new jobs over the next ten years. That figure comes from a "study" done by the Center for American Progress. ATR and BHI went back and used the exact same methods that CAP used. They came to a very different conclusion: up to 700,000 jobs will be lost thanks to health care reform by 2019.

Using the CAP methodology, we find that the bill would destroy a total of 120,000 to 700,000 jobs by 2019, a far cry from the number suggested by leading advocates.

CAP’s claim about job creation rests on its assumption that various developments ensuing from passage of the bill – upgrades in medical technology, the promotion of preventive care and the reduction in administrative costs – would save $683 billion over ten‐years and thus set in motion new incentives for firms to create jobs. The trouble is that the claimed costs savings are at odds with estimates from both Congress and the Executive Branch, which, together, are responsible for considering and ultimately implementing the legislation.

There is no evidence that the projected savings proposed by the Obama administration, particularly in areas such as preventive care, would ever materialize. The literature cited by proponents is speculative at best. Also, there is no guarantee that the administration would be successful in lowering insurance premiums while expanding coverage, without limiting access to health care.

In other words, the Center for American Progress cooked the books. CAP is a progressive think tank founded by John Podesta that is often said to be in cahoots with the Obama Administration. According to Time magazine, "Just as candidate Obama depended on CAP during the campaign for opposition research and talking points, [then-] President-elect Obama has effectively contracted out the management of his own government's formation to [CAP President John] Podesta." CAP also employs former green jobs czar Van Jones.

The second bit of bad news involves premiums. Obama has been repeatedly declaring that his health care plan will bring premiums down. He's made two different claims: that rates will drop by as much as 20% and that employer-based insurance premiums for the employer would decrease by up to $3,000.

The Associated Press found both of these to be lies. The first claim is easily disproved by the Congressional Budget Office, which stated in its report that the average insurance-buyer would see premiums increase by 10% to 13% under ObamaCare. The second claim stems from a study by the Business Roundtable which found that health care reform in general could lower employer premiums by $3,000. But it didn't examine the current legislation being considered at all. According to the Congressional Budget Office -- arguably a more trustworthy source than the Business Roundtable -- employer premiums under ObamaCare would fall maybe 3%, an almost negligible amount. And that would do nothing to offset the far larger increases for the individual insurance purchaser.