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Carol Ostrow | Nov 6, 2015

House panel grills CMS official over Obamacare premiums' rate of increase

At a Tuesday hearing convened by the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, concerning the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program established under the Affordable Care Act, a witness was grilled by legislators who challenged her to clarify the CO-OP program's premium price statistics.

Dr. Mandy Cohen, chief of staff for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), was asked repeatedly by U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to explain her answer to his question regarding how much the CMS alleges premiums are rising for individuals.

While CMS has said premiums are rising by 7 percent, the Daily Caller News Foundation said the actual number is 20 percent. Price said the discrepancy resulted because the government excluded price data for three out of the four Obamacare health insurance plans. Price and the committee said the data for the Bronze, Gold and Platinum plans was not included in CMS’ calculations for the Silver plan.

"You mentioned that the amount of increase in premiums for individuals is 7 percent,” Price said. “You were very careful to mention it was in the Silver plan. What if you were to take all four of the plans together? What was the increase seen in 2015 in premiums for all four plan?"

"I think it is important when you talk about rates, you have to talk about potential."

"20.3 percent. Dr. Cohen. 20.3 percent. What is the projection of all four plans in 2016?" Price asked.

"So, it is important to remember that the average person spends about $270 with financial assistance," Cohen said.

"20.3 percent,” Price said again. “The fact of the matter is that costs are going up, access is going down, quality is being limited."

Obama’s CO-OP program operates in 37 different states.

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