Least Surprising News of the Week

Remember when lefties and reform advocates complained about the rising costs of healthcare in America? (Though that might be a feature, not a bug.) Remember when Obamacare was supposed to slow that growth?

Neither do I--nor does anyone else. Not even President Obama. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal:

The health-care overhaul enacted last spring won't significantly change national health spending over the next decade compared with projections before the law was passed, according to government figures released Thursday.

The report by federal number-crunchers casts fresh doubt on Democrats' argument that the health-care law would curb the sharp increase in costs over the long term, the second setback this week for one of the party's biggest legislative achievements. . .

Regardless of the health law, national health spending has been rising in recent years and economists expect that to continue. In February, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projected that overall national health spending would increase an average of 6.1% a year over the next decade.

The center's economists recalculated the numbers in light of the health bill and now project that the increase will average 6.3% a year, according to a report in the journal Health Affairs. Total U.S. health spending will reach $4.6 trillion by 2019, accounting for nearly one of every five U.S. dollars spent, the report says.


source: September 8th WSJ

"The overall net impact is moderate," said [see page 8] lead author Andrea Sisko, an economist at the Medicare agency.

Obamacare is the explanation for the increased rate of health spending growth. What were we thinking?

(via Moonbattery)