Dr. Oz: Affordable Care Act Plans Are Subsidized Over 80%
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on Thursday said over 80% of Obamacare plans are subsidized.
REPORTER: Mr. President, a health-related question on your healthcare plan. You’ve said you want to make direct payments to Americans, but these Obamacare subsidies are expiring now in a matter of just a few days. More than 20 million Americans are now bracing for their premiums to skyrocket. Are you going to let this happen, or will you intervene? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, they will skyrocket because it was never any good. I’d like to see the money that is going to the insurance companies by the hundreds of billions of dollars. You know, their stocks are up 1,400%, 1,800%, and 1,624%. Their stocks are up through the roof over a fairly short period of time because they’re getting vast amounts of money. I want that money to go to the people directly and let the people buy their own healthcare. And they’ll get much better healthcare than they get with the Unaffordable Care Act, as it’s known by a lot of people. It is virtually unaffordable for people. It’s a bad thing. We can have a great thing. Let the money go directly to the people and let them buy their own healthcare. REPORTER: But this is a urgent problem, Mr. President. Is there anything you can do now, Mr. President? TRUMP: This is going to be right now, as far as I’m concerned. DR. MEHMET OZ, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR: We just got data today. We have federal exchanges where people come shopping for the ACA. And the President hasn’t heard this yet, but we’ve talked to the team. The percentage change from last year was down 2.7% to 2.8%, not the massive numbers that have been predicted. And there’s many possible reasons for this. But right now, Americans are signing up for these programs, despite all the things that have been going on. 2.8% is a tiny fraction of what many had claimed would happen. And I think it speaks to the fact that the American people appreciate these ACA plans are already subsidized over 80%. So it’s a good deal, even if you don’t get the extra 15, 20%.
