ObamaCare's Incredible Steps

Yesterday, the White House announced that, as part of ObamaCare, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be spending a billion dollars on grants to health care innovators. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took a moment to brag about all that the law has accomplished so far.  "We've taken incredible steps to reduce health care costs and improve care, but we can't wait to do more," she said.

By reduced costs, I presume she is not referring to the price of employer health insurance premiums, which jumped by 9 percent in the first year after ObamaCare passed after rising just three to five percent in previous years. Nor I presume does she mean individual health insurance premiums in states like Ohio and Wisconsin, which are projected to rise for many individuals thanks to the law. Nor do I presume she's referring to the glitch in the law's health insurance subsidy structure that could add $500 billion to its total cost should authorities proceed with expanding coverage as planned.

As for improved care, I know she can't be talking about the law's new restrictions on child only health insurance policies that resulted in insurers in many states dropping child-only health coverage. I doubt she's referring to how the law sets up price-regulated insurance exchanges that create incentives for insurers to prioritize the healthy and avoid the sick. And it's safe to say she isn't talking about the multiple ways in which the law is expected to result in people losing their current health coverage.

But fair enough; thanks to ObamaCare, the administration has already taken incredible steps. And I'm sure it's true that Sebelius and the rest really can't wait to do more.

(Via Cato's Michael Cannon.)